6. Radioactivity: The Imperturbable Clock

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Acknowledgments vii
4. Introduction 1
5. 1. Calling the Witnesses to History 6
6. 2. Conceptualizing the Atom: From Philosophy to Science 10
7. 3. The Atom: A Utilitarian View 20
8. 4. The Elements: Our Complete Set of Blocks 38
9. 5. Isotopes: Elemental Flavors 59
10. 6. Radioactivity: The Imperturbable Clock 67
11. 7. Stolen and Forged: Forensic Art History 84
12. 8. The Carbon Clock: Pinning Down Dates 94
13. 9. History Without Words: Lime and Lead and Poop 106
14. 10. You Are What You Eat 120
15. 11. Paleoclimate: Taking the Earth’s Temperature Long Ago 138
16. 12. The Death of the Dinosaurs: An Atomic View 164
17. 13. Evolution: From Meteorites to Cyanobacteria 179
18. 14. What’s Up in the Air? Earth’s Evolving Atmosphere 191
19. 15. Our Sun’s Birthday: The Solar System in Formation 203
20. 16. Stardust Creation: Building the Building Blocks 212
21. 17. In the Beginning 227
22. Epilogue: A Quark’s Tale 231
23. Glossary 235
24. Notes 241
25. Index 261