[PDF] Rock Bone And Ruin eBook

Author : Adrian Currie
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 383 pages
File Size : 14,34 MB
Release : 2024-05-21
Category : Science
ISBN : 0262552035

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An argument that we should be optimistic about the capacity of “methodologically omnivorous” geologists, paleontologists, and archaeologists to uncover truths about the deep past. The “historical sciences”—geology, paleontology, and archaeology—have made extraordinary progress in advancing our understanding of the deep past. How has this been possible, given that the evidence they have to work with offers mere traces of the past? In Rock, Bone, and Ruin, Adrian Currie explains that these scientists are “methodological omnivores,” with a variety of strategies and techniques at their disposal, and that this gives us every reason to be optimistic about their capacity to uncover truths about prehistory. Creative and opportunistic paleontologists, for example, discovered and described a new species of prehistoric duck-billed platypus from a single fossilized tooth. Examining the complex reasoning processes of historical science, Currie also considers philosophical and scientific reflection on the relationship between past and present, the nature of evidence, contingency, and scientific progress. Currie draws on varied examples from across the historical sciences, from Mayan ritual sacrifice to giant Mesozoic fleas to Mars's mysterious watery past, to develop an account of the nature of, and resources available to, historical science. He presents two major case studies: the emerging explanation of sauropod size, and the “snowball earth” hypothesis that accounts for signs of glaciation in Neoproterozoic tropics. He develops the Ripple Model of Evidence to analyze “unlucky circumstances” in scientific investigation; examines and refutes arguments for pessimism about the capacity of the historical sciences, defending the role of analogy and arguing that simulations have an experiment-like function. Currie argues for a creative, open-ended approach, “empirically grounded” speculation.

Author : Adrian Currie
Publisher :
Page : 516 pages
File Size : 39,28 MB
Release : 2014
Category : Convergence (Biology)
ISBN :

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We should be optimistic about historical science's capacity to uncover past events, even those leaving little trace. Moreover, historical science does more than describe or catalogue the past. In uncovering patterns and weaving narratives, historical scientists provide explanations: why history unfolded as it did, and how it could have been otherwise. These claims are related: the historical scientist's drive for explanation increases her reach into the past, as speculative hypotheses provide avenues for fresh tests and linking past events together. I examine historical science, building a picture of its epistemic and explanatory credentials. These are, first, explanations of sauropod gigantism. Sauropods were one of the most successful lineages of the Mesozoic, comfortably outdoing all terrestrial animals in size. How did this evolve and how was it possible physiologically? Second, the 'snowball earth' explanation of Neoproterozoic deposits. Rocks formed over 500 million years ago show distinctive glacial signs, but formed in the tropics. By the snowball earth hypothesis the entire earth was ice-locked for brief periods. We might be pessimistic about finding answers to these questions. Although access to past events is granted by their downstream effects, 'traces', these signals decay over time. Historical scientists frequently face incomplete, 'gappy', and 'faint', difficult to access data-sets. Moreover, we sometimes lack manipulative access to these events, so traditional experimental investigation is unavailable. However such data-sets are also 'dispersed', heterogeneous, allowing us to draw on and knit together multiple lines of evidence. Moreover, there are evidential sources which are independent of signal decay. I describe two sources. First, 'surrogative' evidence. This evidence accesses the past by (1) supporting 'midrange' theory (background theory which links traces to past events); (2) supporting general models of causal systems, the dynamics of past events; (3) testing between hypotheses about the past. Second, explanatory relations can be evidential. Some explanations of past events are 'interdependent': the occurrence of one event makes another more likely, and vice versa. Other explanations of the past cite 'common processes': events are unified as instances of the same process-type, and provide evidential support in virtue of this. Moreover, historical science is not 'parochial', or merely concerned about, or restricted to, particular histories. I demonstrate that historical scientists are frequently interested in understanding 'fragile systems': relatively contingent systems which occur under specific circumstances but, nonetheless, support counterfactuals. Even when they are interested in explaining particular events, historical scientists draw on evidence from other instance types. These considerations ground optimism about historical science, but they are also revelatory of broader issues in the philosophy of science. I discuss how some historical explanations, in particular those which describe complex narratives about particular cases, come apart from 'systems-based' or 'mechanistic' explanation. I also demonstrate that the use of models, particularly simulations, in historical science has a far more epistemic character than contemporary treatments of modelling suggest. As opposed to using models to maximize predictive power, explanatory salience, or for heuristic traction, historical scientists use models to compensate for minimal data and to empirically differentiate between hypotheses.

Author : Sarah J. Maas
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 739 pages
File Size : 22,60 MB
Release : 2018-05
Category : Young Adult Fiction
ISBN : 1619635208

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Sarah J. Maas hit the New York Times SERIES list at #1 with A Court of Wings and Ruin!

Author : Sabina Leonelli
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 282 pages
File Size : 19,42 MB
Release : 2016-11-18
Category : Science
ISBN : 022641650X

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In recent decades, there has been a major shift in the way researchers process and understand scientific data. Digital access to data has revolutionized ways of doing science in the biological and biomedical fields, leading to a data-intensive approach to research that uses innovative methods to produce, store, distribute, and interpret huge amounts of data. In Data-Centric Biology, Sabina Leonelli probes the implications of these advancements and confronts the questions they pose. Are we witnessing the rise of an entirely new scientific epistemology? If so, how does that alter the way we study and understand life—including ourselves? Leonelli is the first scholar to use a study of contemporary data-intensive science to provide a philosophical analysis of the epistemology of data. In analyzing the rise, internal dynamics, and potential impact of data-centric biology, she draws on scholarship across diverse fields of science and the humanities—as well as her own original empirical material—to pinpoint the conditions under which digitally available data can further our understanding of life. Bridging the divide between historians, sociologists, and philosophers of science, Data-Centric Biology offers a nuanced account of an issue that is of fundamental importance to our understanding of contemporary scientific practices.

Author : Jonathan Maberry
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 496 pages
File Size : 48,90 MB
Release : 2013-08-13
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 1442439904

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Benny, Nix, Lou, and Lilah journey through a fierce wilderness that was once America searching for the jet they saw months ago, while evading fierce animals and a new kind of zombie. "The third time's the charm with even more adventureNand goreNas the Rot & Ruin series continues."N"Kirkus Reviews."

Author : Vincent Ialenti
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 205 pages
File Size : 26,33 MB
Release : 2020-09-22
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 0262539268

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A guide to long-term thinking: how to envision the far future of Earth. We live on a planet careening toward environmental collapse that will be largely brought about by our own actions. And yet we struggle to grasp the scale of the crisis, barely able to imagine the effects of climate change just ten years from now, let alone the multi-millennial timescales of Earth's past and future life span. In this book, Vincent Ialenti offers a guide for envisioning the planet's far future—to become, as he terms it, more skilled deep time reckoners. The challenge, he says, is to learn to inhabit a longer now. Ialenti takes on two overlapping crises: the Anthropocene, our current moment of human-caused environmental transformation; and the deflation of expertise—today's popular mockery and institutional erosion of expert authority. The second crisis, he argues, is worsening the effects of the first. Hearing out scientific experts who study a wider time span than a Facebook timeline is key to tackling our planet's emergency. Astrophysicists, geologists, historians, evolutionary biologists, climatologists, archaeologists, and others can teach us the art of long-termism. For a case study in long-term thinking, Ialenti turns to Finland's nuclear waste repository “Safety Case” experts. These scientists forecast far future glaciations, climate changes, earthquakes, and more, over the coming tens of thousands—or even hundreds of thousands or millions—of years. They are not pop culture “futurists” but data-driven, disciplined technical experts, using the power of patterns to construct detailed scenarios and quantitative models of the far future. This is the kind of time literacy we need if we are to survive the Anthropocene.

Author : John Gwynne
Publisher : Orbit
Page : 512 pages
File Size : 13,87 MB
Release : 2018-02-20
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 0316502235

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Acclaimed epic fantasy author John Gwynne returns with the first book in a new trilogy, perfect for fans of George R. R. Martin, Brandon Sanderson, and David Gemmell. "A Time of Dread reminds me of why I became a fantasy enthusiast in the first place." -- Robin Hobb A race of warrior angels, the Ben-Elim, once vanquished a mighty demon horde. Now they rule the Banished lands, but their peace is brutally enforced. In the south, hotheaded Riv is desperate to join the Ben-Elim's peacekeeping force, until she unearths a deadly secret. In the west, the giantess Sig investigates demon sightings and discovers signs of an uprising and black magic. And in the snowbound north, Drem, a trapper, finds mutilated corpses in the forests. The work of a predator, or something far darker? It's a time of shifting loyalties and world-changing dangers. Difficult choices need to be made. Because in the shadows, demons are gathering, waiting for their time to rise. . .

Author : Lola Rock
Publisher : Lola Rock
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 20,4 MB
Release : 2021-07-06
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 1959927000

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After surviving childhood at the snooty, stuck-up boarding school for budding omegas, I have everyone convinced I'm a dud. My awakening? Never gonna happen. Heat, mates, and a fairytale pack life? Maybe next reincarnation. After surviving childhood at the snooty, stuck-up boarding school for budding omegas, I have everyone convinced I'm a dud. My awakening? Never gonna happen. Heat, mates, and a fairytale pack life? Maybe next reincarnation. All I want is to be left alone. I'm invisible, headed to a blissful solo future until the Wyvern Pack destroys my dream of independence. Atlas, Hunter, Finn, Jett, and Orion are poison candy. They don't want an omega, but they need one, even if there'll never be a real spot for me in their pack. Who needs a pack? I’ll keep myself safe, same as always. I'll never awaken, and I'll never ever give the Wyverns my heart... Because all they'll do is rip me apart. ♥ Burn: Slow ♥ Heat: Med/High (spicy MM + MMMMM scenes) ♥ Alert: Growly alpha males, no shifting ♥ Warning: Contains MM content, frequent cursing, and references to past assault that may be disturbing. Author not responsible for ugly crying. Wait for Part 2 if HEA is a requirement. Join the fanpack who are waiting for Pack Darling, Part Two and see if you agree with these readers’ reviews! “Like AJ Merlin's Reckless, Pack Darling fits into that great middle ground ... Basically, it's a perfect choice for those who don't want super sweet or super dark. Pack Darling is just right.” – Rambling Reader, Goodreads “I honestly can't give enough stars to this book. I think it easily deserves six, seven or even eight stars, but unfortunately there is no option to add extra stars, so I'm gonna have to go with five and an amazing review. But somehow I doubt a review can really do justice to this amazing book.” – Ines, Goodreads “I love the books that sneak up on you!....Oh my goodness. I have to wait until September for book two. I am dying inside from anticipation. I read this twice in three days! How many more times will I read it between now and then!? I highly recommend this book for people who enjoy Lily Archer's Omega Academy. Pack Darling is similar in awesomeness without aliens. I can't wait to read more by Lola Rock!” - Ali, Have Coffee, Need Books

Author : David M. Wilson
Publisher : Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Page : 188 pages
File Size : 12,37 MB
Release : 2018-01-31
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1784917583

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This is the first general survey of the carved stone crosses of the Isle of Man (late 5th to mid-11th century) for more than a century, providing a new view of the political and religious connections of the Isle of Man in a period of great turmoil in the Irish Sea region. The book also includes an up-to-date annotated inventory of the monuments.