skip to content
Close Window

Please sign in to WorldCat 

Don't have an account? You can easily create a free account.

Cancel Forgot your password?
The seashell on the mountaintop : a story of science, sainthood, and the humble genius who discovered a new history of the earth Preview this item
ClosePreview this item

The seashell on the mountaintop : a story of science, sainthood, and the humble genius who discovered a new history of the earth

Author: Alan Cutler
Publisher: New York : Dutton, 2003.
Edition/Format: Book : EnglishView all editions and formats
Summary:
The tale of a seventeenth-century scientist-turned-priest who forever changed our understanding of the Earth and created a new field of science. It was an ancient puzzle: How did the fossils of seashells find their way far inland, sometimes high up into the mountains? Fossils only made sense in a world old enough to form them, and in the seventeenth century, few people could imagine such a thing--the Old Testament  Read more...
Rating:

 

 

Find a copy in the library

Retrieving... Finding libraries that hold this item...

Details

Named Person: Nicolaus Steno
Material Type: Internet resource
Document Type: Book, Internet Resource
All Authors / Contributors: Alan Cutler
ISBN: 0525947086 9780525947080
OCLC Number: 51478195
Description: 228 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.
Contents: Pilgrims -- Seashells -- Chaos -- Anatomist -- Testimony of things -- Tongues of stone -- Secret knots -- Testing the waters -- Conversion -- Layer by layer -- De Solido -- Six faces of Tuscany -- Shell game -- Heaven and Earth -- Vain speculation -- Bishop -- World-makers -- New history of the earth -- The Saint.
Responsibility: Alan Cutler.
More information:

Abstract:

The tale of a seventeenth-century scientist-turned-priest who forever changed our understanding of the Earth and created a new field of science. It was an ancient puzzle: How did the fossils of seashells find their way far inland, sometimes high up into the mountains? Fossils only made sense in a world old enough to form them, and in the seventeenth century, few people could imagine such a thing--the Old Testament laid out Earth's timescale very clearly. A revolution was in the making, however, and it was started by the brilliant and enigmatic Nicholas Steno, who explored beyond the pages of the Bible, looking directly at the clues left in the layers of the Earth. With his groundbreaking answer to the fossil question, Steno would not only confound the religious and scientific thinking of his own time, he would set the stage for the modern science that came after him.--From publisher description.

Reviews


Tags

Be the first.
Confirm this request

You may have already requested this item. Please select Ok if you would like to proceed with this request anyway.