Эта книга о том, как люди открывали свою родную планету. Великое географическое открытие порой длилось веками, и в нем принимали участие десятки, а то и сотни исследователей. Среди них были не только знаменитые — Геродот, Марко Поло, Колумб, Кук, Пржевальский, Скотт, — но и ныне забытые и малоизвестные. Вы также узнаете и о некоторых теоретических открытиях, раскрывающих жизнь и строение Земли. Мореплаватели и путешественники ярче всего воплотили в жизнь извечное стремление людей к открытиям и поиску неведомого. Последний раздел книги посвящен археологии. Великие археологические открытия, сделанные на протяжении двухсот лет, позволили приоткрыть завесу над загадкой происхождения человека, восстановить историю древнейших цивилизаций, познакомиться с достижениями величайших культур древнего мира.

Астрономия — сплав физики, математики и бездонной красоты звездного неба — не одно столетие вдохновляла человечество на осознание своего места во Вселенной, на поиски и открытия. Эта обширная область науки обладает собственным языком, который, однако, может освоить и человек, не имеющий специального образования. В этой книге в доступной форме дано краткое описание основополагающих идей астрономии, а также современные принципы и факты, необходимые для всех, кто хочет узнать как можно больше о ночном небе. Вы узнаете о черных дырах и гравитационных линзах, о пульсарах, квазарах и многом другом, что поражает воображение, заставляя людей с пристальным интересом всматриваться в небеса. Статьи расположены в алфавитном порядке.

Не зря ученые часто представляются нам чуть ли не сумасшедшими – им известны такие вещи, от которых волосы встают дыбом! Вы знали, что на Земле живет в 100 миллионов раз больше насекомых, чем людей, и что исследователи открывают 10000 новых видов насекомых каждый год? Или о том, что Солнечная система вращается вокруг центра нашей галактики со скоростью 273 километра в секунду? Или что за день кровь человека преодолевает более 19 километров по сосудам? А знали ли вы, что у неандертальцев объем мозга был значительно больше, чем у нас с вами? А о том, что у вас во рту постоянно находится около 100 миллионов микробов, которые питаются остатками пищи и омертвевшими клетками ротовой полости. Вы хотите узнать о природе, человеке, жизни животных, а также о нашей планете и о космосе факты, которые вызовут у вас шок? Откройте для себя научные факты, которыми будет интересно поделиться с друзьями и рассказать детям.

Showing you what others only tell you. Discover the history and origins of the universe and observe the stars and galaxies with over 100 star charts and profiles of all 88 constellations. Includes a month-by-month guide to highlights of the night sky. Perfect for any enthusiast this is the definitive visual guide to enjoying and appreciating astronomy

This book views Mercury as a whole in the context of its environment. It illustrates what we know and what we need to know, and why understanding Mercury is so crucial to our understanding of solar system origin and current processes on Earth. The book describes our current state of knowledge for Mercury and interactions between interior, exterior, and space environment which are highly dynamic and thus critical to understanding Mercury as a system.

This book examines the origins, development and fate of intelligent species in the observable part of our universe. It scrutinizes what kind of information about extraterrestrial intelligent life can be inferred from our own biological, cultural and scientific evolution and the likely future of mankind. There is emphasis on the geological conditions and consequences of life's conquest of land as the pre-condition for the emergence of life with our type of technical intelligence.

The year is 2035, and the crew from the first expedition to Mars is returning to Earth. The crewmembers are anxious to get home, and ennui pervades the ship. The mood is broken by a series of mysterious events that jeopardize their safety. Someone or something is threatening the crew. Is it an alien being? A psychotic crewmember? A malfunctioning computer? The truth raises questions about the crewmembers’ fate and that of the human race. In this novel, the intent is to show real psychological issues that could affect a crew returning from a long-duration mission to Mars. The storyline presents a mystery that keeps the reader guessing, yet the issues at stake are based on the findings from the author’s research and other space-related work over the past 40+ years. The novel touches on actual plans being discussed for such an expedition as well as notions involving the search for Martian life and panspermia.

From the Arctic Ocean and ice sheets of Greenland, to the glaciers of the Andes and Himalayas, to the great frozen desert of Antarctica, The White Planet takes readers on a spellbinding scientific journey through the shrinking world of ice and snow to tell the story of the expeditions and discoveries that have transformed our understanding of global climate. Written by three internationally renowned scientists at the center of many breakthroughs in ice core and climate science, this book provides an unparalleled firsthand account of how the "white planet" affects global climate--and how, in turn, global warming is changing the frozen world. Jean Jouzel, Claude Lorius, and Dominique Raynaud chronicle the daunting scientific, technical, and human hurdles that they and other scientists have had to overcome in order to unravel the mysteries of past and present climate change, as revealed by the cryosphere--the dynamic frozen regions of our planet. Scientifically impeccable, up-to-date, and accessible, The White Planet brings cutting-edge climate research to general readers through a vivid narrative. This is an essential book for anyone who wants to understand the inextricable link between climate and our planet's icy regions.

The Universe, is one book in the Britannica Illustrated Science Library Series that is correlated to the science curriculum in grades 5-8. The Britannica Illustrated Science Library is a visually compelling set that covers earth science, life science, and physical science in 16 volumes. Created for ages 10 and up, each volume provides an overview on a subject and thoroughly explains it through detailed and powerful graphics-more than 1,000 per volume-that turn complex subjects into information that students can grasp. Each volume contains a glossary with full definitions for vocabulary help and an index.

Significant challenges abound in the astrobiological study of the solar system, similar to those faced by Sherlock Holmes in another context. In the search for extraterrestrial life, a negative result is nearly impossible to obtain, much less interpret. We are bathed in Earth organisms, which makes finding our own kind of life palpably easy and detecting indigenous life on other worlds much more difficult. We are not exploring the solar system to discover life that we have brought with us from home, and we are aware that Earth organisms (read: invaders) could very well erase traces of truly extraterrestrial life. Likewise, we don’t know what would happen if alien organisms were introduced into Earth’s biosphere. Would a close relationship (and a benign one) be obvious to all, or will Martian life be so alien as to be unnoticed by both Earth organisms and human defenses? We really have no data to address these questions, and considerate scientists fear conducting those experiments without proper safeguards. After all, this is the only biosphere we currently know—and we do love it! With this volume, Michael Meltzer details the fascinating history of our attempts at planetary protection and those who have worked to protect Earth from otherworldly organisms, while safeguarding other worlds from the all-too-pervasive life on Earth. Such a history is particularly important at this time, since it provides a point of departure for understanding the field as we undertake further explorations. Meltzer’s work will help us face what may well be a crucial topic in the future of the science of life and the future of humans in space.