Deep Time : Paleobiology's Perspective - Softcover

Wing, Scott L.; Erwin, Douglas H.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0967755425 ISBN 13: 9780967755427

Publisher: Paleontological Society, 2001

Synopsis

The fifteen chapters of Deep Time, authored by leading researchers in paleobiology, present an overview of current work and an outline of important unsolved problems in the field, revealing exciting interactions between the study of fossils and recent findings in biogeochemistry, genetics, developmental and functional biology, ecology, evolution, systematics, and sedimentary geology. Within the diversity of this research lie the unifying themes that are central to the discipline—the idea that the histories and past behaviors of living systems are key to understanding their workings, and that "deep time" is a perspective paleobiology alone brings to the study of living things. Collectively, these pieces are a impressive demonstration of the accelerating strength of paleobiology as a science, and function as an invaluable overview of a field that documents not only the history of biological systems, but also uses that history to reveal the processes that allow living systems to respond to change.

About this title

About the Author

Douglas H. Erwin and Scott L. Wing are both research curators in the Smithsonian Institution’s Department of Palebiology.

From the Inside Flap

The fifteen chapters of Deep Time, authored by leading researchers in paleobiology, present an overview of current work and an outline of important unsolved problems in the field, revealing exciting interactions between the study of fossils and recent findings in biogeochemistry, genetics, developmental and functional biology, ecology, evolution, systematics, and sedimentary geology. Within the diversity of this research lie the unifying themes that are central to the discipline&;the idea that the histories and past behaviors of living systems are key to understanding their workings, and that "deep time" is a perspective paleobiology alone brings to the study of living things. Collectively, these pieces are a impressive demonstration of the accelerating strength of paleobiology as a science, and function as an invaluable overview of a field that documents not only the history of biological systems, but also uses that history to reveal the processes that allow living systems to respond to change.

Edition details

• Publisher: Paleontological Society
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0967755425
• ISBN 13: 9780967755427
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 300