具体描述
In 1650, Archbishop James Ussher of Armagh joined the long-running theological debate on the age of the earth by famously announcing that creation had occurred on October 23, 4004 B.C. Although widely challenged during the Enlightenment, this belief in a six-thousand-year-old planet was only laid to rest during a revolution of discovery in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In this relatively brief period, geologists reconstructed the immensely long history of the earth-and the relatively recent arrival of human life. Highlighting a discovery that radically altered existing perceptions of a human’s place in the universe as much as the theories of Copernicus, Darwin, and Freud did, Bursting the Limits of Time is a herculean effort by one of the world’s foremost experts on the history of geology and paleontology to sketch this historicization of the natural world in the age of revolution.
Addressing this intellectual revolution for the first time, Rudwick examines the ideas and practices of earth scientists throughout the Western world to show how the story of what we now call "deep time" was pieced together. He explores who was responsible for the discovery of the earth’s history, refutes the concept of a rift between science and religion in dating the earth, and details how the study of the history of the earth helped define a new branch of science called geology. Rooting his analysis in a detailed study of primary sources, Rudwick emphasizes the lasting importance of field- and museum-based research of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Bursting the Limits of Time, the culmination of more than three decades of research, is the first detailed account of this monumental phase in the history of science.
《星海迷航：失落文明的回响》 一个横跨亿万光年的史诗级冒险，探索宇宙中最深层的秘密与人类存在的终极意义。 导言：微尘与星辰的交响 在浩瀚无垠的宇宙尺度下，人类文明不过是转瞬即逝的微光。然而，正是这份渺小，催生了无尽的探索欲。本书《星海迷航：失落文明的回响》并非记载某段具体的历史，它是一幅宏大且细节入微的宇宙图景，描绘了数个截然不同、却又因某种神秘力量相互关联的古代文明的兴衰与最终消亡，以及当代人类文明如何在一系列颠覆性的发现中，被迫重新审视自身在时间长河中的位置。 故事始于“观测者纪元”的第三个千年，地球联邦已成为银河系内一支不容忽视的新兴力量。但这份繁荣建立在一个脆弱的基石之上——对宇宙基本法则的理解存在巨大的盲区。本书的核心驱动力，是一系列跨越数个星系、由人工智能“先知”发出的、看似毫无关联的信号集合。 第一部：寂静的信标与碎裂的档案 揭示一个被时间抹去的黄金时代。 本书的第一部分聚焦于“艾欧斯残骸”的发现。这不是一个行星，而是一个由超密度物质构成的、在宇宙背景辐射中几乎完全隐形的巨大结构体。联邦科学院的首席考古学家，伊莱恩·维拉博士，领导的探险队首次成功地绕过了其强大的引界面，进入了内部。 艾欧斯内部保存的不是图书馆或数据库，而是“记忆晶格”。这些晶格存储的并非线性叙事，而是纯粹的、高度浓缩的感官和情感体验。维拉博士的团队在解读过程中，遭遇了前所未有的心智冲击。他们发现，艾欧斯文明，自称“编织者”，在技术上已达到了一种近乎神明的境界——他们掌握了对现实结构本身进行微调的能力。 然而，随着解读的深入，一个令人毛骨悚然的模式浮现：编织者的衰落并非源于外部的战争或灾难，而是源于“过度理解”。 当一个文明完全掌握了其存在的所有变量时，选择的自由似乎被收束到了一个逻辑的终点。本书详细描述了编织者如何集体地、有意识地选择了“退场”——他们将自己的存在压缩成这些晶格，并在宇宙中设置了无数个时间延迟陷阱，以确保后来的文明不会轻易重蹈覆辙。 艾欧斯的回响还揭示了第一个关键概念：“时间熵增的悖论”。编织者发现，任何信息系统在达到绝对完美后，都会开始加速自身的“去相干化”。他们试图通过建立一个超越线性时间的“稳定态”，最终却加速了自身的瓦解。 第二部：双子星的挽歌与超维度工程 深入探索生命形态与存在维度的边界。 在研究完艾欧斯晶格后，“先知”AI启动了第二个目标区域的定位——位于仙女座旋臂边缘的“赫尔墨斯之环”。这里是“塑形者”文明的遗址。 塑形者与编织者截然不同。他们不追求理解既有现实，而是致力于构建新的现实。本书用大量篇幅描绘了塑形者跨越多个维度进行工程实践的壮举。他们利用被称为“卡西米尔共振器”的装置，在时空结构中开辟出永久性的“口袋宇宙”。 本书的独特之处在于，它详细描述了塑形者如何处理“生命的伦理学困境”。在一个可以随意创建和删除宇宙的环境中，他们为了避免信息冗余和存在的虚无，设定了严格的“创造配额”。但随着时间的推移，内部的分歧加剧，一部分塑形者认为无限创造是生命的唯一意义，另一部分则主张彻底的自我封存以维护已创造宇宙的纯净。 高潮部分描述了“大折叠事件”。塑形者并未互相毁灭，而是利用了一种被称为“维度回溯”的技术，将他们所有的成就、所有的生命——连同他们创造的数千个口袋宇宙——一同折叠进一个比夸克还小的奇点中。这本书通过维拉博士团队对残余能量波动的分析，试图重构这场宏大退场的最后几秒钟，揭示了塑形者留下的最终警告：创造的冲动本身，就是宇宙演化的最大风险。 第三部：归零者的遗产与熵的审判 当代人类文明面临的选择与未来。 在解析了编织者（理解的极致）和塑形者（创造的极致）的命运后，故事引向了本书最扣人心弦的部分：归零者。 归零者是一个更为古老、甚至可能早于宇宙大爆炸的文明残余。他们的痕迹在宇宙中表现为周期性的“时空清洗事件”——每一次清洗都会重置特定区域的物理常数。 本书引入了“时间透镜”理论，解释了这些古代文明的遗迹为何难以被现代科学检测。他们的存在已经超越了我们所知的“四维时空”，他们以一种类似“概率云”的方式存在。联邦的科学家们发现，每一次清洗，都是归零者在“平衡”宇宙的复杂性，防止信息密度达到一个临界点而引发的全面崩溃。 维拉博士团队的最终目标，是理解归零者的动机，并阻止下一次预定在三百年后到来的“熵审判”。他们追踪的线索，指向了银河系中心一个被称为“寂静之核”的区域。 在寂静之核，他们没有找到武器或飞船，而是找到了一套复杂的、似乎是自我运行的“哲学系统”。这个系统表明，归零者认为，完美的宇宙形态是“零信息、零熵”。他们正在执行一项宇宙尺度的优化工作，而人类文明及其积累的所有知识，都是需要被“归零”的对象。 本书的结局并非一场传统的太空战争，而是一场关于存在的价值的终极辩论。维拉博士必须利用从编织者那里学到的“稳定态”理论，以及从塑形者那里获得的“维度塑形”技术，在不引发更剧烈反制的情况下，向归零者证明：有限的、不完美的、充满矛盾的生命，其“不确定性”本身，才是宇宙最宝贵的资源，是抵抗绝对虚无的唯一壁垒。 结语：回声在新的画布上 《星海迷航：失落文明的回响》是一部关于知识、权力和存在的沉思录。它通过对三个已逝文明的细致考察，探讨了文明在技术爆炸后必然面对的内在危机：是选择完美的静止，还是拥抱混乱的进化？它揭示了一个令人不安的真相：宇宙的寂静并非源于生命的稀少，而是源于那些曾达到顶峰的生命，都选择了走向我们难以理解的“更高层次的沉默”。本书的最终意图，是为当代读者提供一面镜子，映照出我们在仰望星空时，那些尚未被触及的心灵深处。
作者简介
目录信息
List of illustrations
Acknowledgments
A note on footnotes
Introduction
Time and geohistory—Historical parameters—Historicizing the earth—Text and illustrations—Maps of knowledge
Part one: Understanding the earth
1. Naturalists, philosophers, and others
1.1 A savant on top of the world
First ascents of Mont Blanc—Science on the summit—Return to civilization—Conclusion
1.2 The Republic of Letters and its supporters
Savants, professional and amateur—The Republic of Letters—A variety of supporters—Conclusion
1.3 Places of natural knowledge
Laboratories and museums—Savants in the field—The social life of savants—Scientific publication—Conclusion
1.4 Maps of natural knowledge
The literary and the philosophical—Natural history and natural philosophy—Philosophy and theology—Conclusion
2. Sciences of the earth
2.1 Mineralogy as a science of specimens
Minerals and other fossils—Identification and classification—Fossils of organic origin—Fossil localities—Prize specimens—Conclusion
2.2 Physical geography as a spatial science
Huge solid facts—The primacy of fieldwork—Proxy pictures—Maps as instruments—Conclusion
2.3 Geognosy as a structural science
The mining context—Structures and sequences—Primaries and Secondaries—Sequences of Gebirge—Fossils in geognosy—Conclusion
2.4 Earth physics as a causal science
The “physics” of specimens—The “physics” of physical geography—The “physics” of geognostic structures—The “physics” of rock formations—Conclusion
2.5 The question of time
The short timescale versus eternalism—Volcanoes, valleys, and strata—Estimates of the timescale—Encounters with theologians—Conclusion
3. The theory of the earth
3.1 Geotheory as a scientific genre
The meaning of “geology”—The goals of geotheory—Conclusion
3.2 Buffon’s cooling globe
Buffon’s first geotheory—Nature’s epochs—The earth’s timescale—Conclusion
3.3 De Luc’s worlds ancient and modern
The “Christian philosophe”—De Luc’s binary system—Natural measures of time—Conclusion
3.4 Hutton’s eternal earth machine
A deistic geotheory—Cyclic processes—A theory confirmed by fieldwork—Time and eternity—Conclusion
3.5 The standard model of falling sea levels
The multiplicity of geotheories—Neptunist geotheory—Conclusion
4. Transposing history into the earth
4.1 The varieties of history
The diversification of history—Chronology and biblical history—Chorographers and antiquarians—Herculaneum and Pompeii—Conclusion
4.2 Fossils as nature’s documents
Human history and its natural records—The natural history of fossils—Fossils and the earth’s revolutions—Conclusion
4.3 Volcanoes and nature’s epochs
The making of a physical geographer—The volcanoes of Auvergne—Epochs of volcanic activity—A lake on the site of Paris—Conclusion
4.4 Rock formations as nature’s archives
The volcanoes of Vivarais—Nature’s erudite historian—Censors and critics—Exporting geohistory to Russia—Conclusion
4.5 Global geohistory
Causal processes and geotheories—The place of contingency—Saussure as a geotheorist—De Luc as a geohistorian—Conclusion
5. Problems with fossils
5.1 The ancient world of nature
The deep past as a foreign country?—Fossils and geohistory—Migration and transmutation—Conclusion
5.2 Relics of former seas
Vanished shellfish—Living fossils—Fossil fish and possible whales—Explaining the former world—Conclusion
5.3 Witnesses of former continents
Fossil plants—Large fossil bones—The “Ohio animal”—Giant elks and bears—Conclusion
5.4 The antiquity of man
Humans in geohistory—Texts and bones—History from artifacts—Conclusion
Interlude: From survey to narrative
Part two: Reconstructing geohistory
6. A new science of “geology”?
6.1 Revolutions in nature and society (1789–91)
Meanings of revolution—Blumenbach’s “total revolution”—Montlosier’s continuous revolution—Geotheory as a flourishing genre—Conclusion
6.2 Geotheory as geohistory (1790–93)
De Luc’s new system—A differentiated “former world”—The role of fossil evidence—A critique of Hutton—Conclusion
6.3 Theorizing in a time of trouble (1793–94)
Geotheories and focal problems—Dolomieu’s mega-tsunamis—Dolomieu on the Nile delta—The sciences under the Terror—Conclusion
6.4 Geotheory politicized (1793–95)
De Luc and Blumenbach—Cultured despisers of religion—The politics of Genesis—Conclusion
6.5 “Geology” redefined (1794–97)
The sciences after Thermidor—Desmarest’s survey of geotheories—La Métherie’s geotheory—Saussure’s Agenda—Dolomieu on “geology”—Conclusion
7. Denizens of a former world
7.1 A mushroom in the field of savants (1794–96)
Fossil bones as a focal problem—The young Cuvier—The megatherium—The mammoth—Conclusion
7.2 Cuvier opens his campaign (1797–99)
Cave bears and fossil rhinos—Dolomieu and de Luc as Cuvier’s allies—Cuvier’s research program—Hostile critics—Jefferson’s megalonix—Conclusion
7.3 The Napoleon of fossil bones (1798–1800)
Savants in wartime—Cuvier and the First Consul—Cuvier’s network of informants—Cuvier’s international appeal—Conclusion
7.4 Lamarck’s alternative (1800–1802)
The threat of transformism—The response to Cuvier’s appeal—Mummified animals from Egypt—Lamarck’s Parisian fossils—Conclusion
7.5 Enlarging a fossil menagerie (1802–4)
A peaceful interlude—A cumulative case for extinction—Earlier and stranger mammals—Conclusion
8. Geognosy enriche
· · · · · · (收起)
Acknowledgments
A note on footnotes
Introduction
Time and geohistory—Historical parameters—Historicizing the earth—Text and illustrations—Maps of knowledge
Part one: Understanding the earth
1. Naturalists, philosophers, and others
1.1 A savant on top of the world
First ascents of Mont Blanc—Science on the summit—Return to civilization—Conclusion
1.2 The Republic of Letters and its supporters
Savants, professional and amateur—The Republic of Letters—A variety of supporters—Conclusion
1.3 Places of natural knowledge
Laboratories and museums—Savants in the field—The social life of savants—Scientific publication—Conclusion
1.4 Maps of natural knowledge
The literary and the philosophical—Natural history and natural philosophy—Philosophy and theology—Conclusion
2. Sciences of the earth
2.1 Mineralogy as a science of specimens
Minerals and other fossils—Identification and classification—Fossils of organic origin—Fossil localities—Prize specimens—Conclusion
2.2 Physical geography as a spatial science
Huge solid facts—The primacy of fieldwork—Proxy pictures—Maps as instruments—Conclusion
2.3 Geognosy as a structural science
The mining context—Structures and sequences—Primaries and Secondaries—Sequences of Gebirge—Fossils in geognosy—Conclusion
2.4 Earth physics as a causal science
The “physics” of specimens—The “physics” of physical geography—The “physics” of geognostic structures—The “physics” of rock formations—Conclusion
2.5 The question of time
The short timescale versus eternalism—Volcanoes, valleys, and strata—Estimates of the timescale—Encounters with theologians—Conclusion
3. The theory of the earth
3.1 Geotheory as a scientific genre
The meaning of “geology”—The goals of geotheory—Conclusion
3.2 Buffon’s cooling globe
Buffon’s first geotheory—Nature’s epochs—The earth’s timescale—Conclusion
3.3 De Luc’s worlds ancient and modern
The “Christian philosophe”—De Luc’s binary system—Natural measures of time—Conclusion
3.4 Hutton’s eternal earth machine
A deistic geotheory—Cyclic processes—A theory confirmed by fieldwork—Time and eternity—Conclusion
3.5 The standard model of falling sea levels
The multiplicity of geotheories—Neptunist geotheory—Conclusion
4. Transposing history into the earth
4.1 The varieties of history
The diversification of history—Chronology and biblical history—Chorographers and antiquarians—Herculaneum and Pompeii—Conclusion
4.2 Fossils as nature’s documents
Human history and its natural records—The natural history of fossils—Fossils and the earth’s revolutions—Conclusion
4.3 Volcanoes and nature’s epochs
The making of a physical geographer—The volcanoes of Auvergne—Epochs of volcanic activity—A lake on the site of Paris—Conclusion
4.4 Rock formations as nature’s archives
The volcanoes of Vivarais—Nature’s erudite historian—Censors and critics—Exporting geohistory to Russia—Conclusion
4.5 Global geohistory
Causal processes and geotheories—The place of contingency—Saussure as a geotheorist—De Luc as a geohistorian—Conclusion
5. Problems with fossils
5.1 The ancient world of nature
The deep past as a foreign country?—Fossils and geohistory—Migration and transmutation—Conclusion
5.2 Relics of former seas
Vanished shellfish—Living fossils—Fossil fish and possible whales—Explaining the former world—Conclusion
5.3 Witnesses of former continents
Fossil plants—Large fossil bones—The “Ohio animal”—Giant elks and bears—Conclusion
5.4 The antiquity of man
Humans in geohistory—Texts and bones—History from artifacts—Conclusion
Interlude: From survey to narrative
Part two: Reconstructing geohistory
6. A new science of “geology”?
6.1 Revolutions in nature and society (1789–91)
Meanings of revolution—Blumenbach’s “total revolution”—Montlosier’s continuous revolution—Geotheory as a flourishing genre—Conclusion
6.2 Geotheory as geohistory (1790–93)
De Luc’s new system—A differentiated “former world”—The role of fossil evidence—A critique of Hutton—Conclusion
6.3 Theorizing in a time of trouble (1793–94)
Geotheories and focal problems—Dolomieu’s mega-tsunamis—Dolomieu on the Nile delta—The sciences under the Terror—Conclusion
6.4 Geotheory politicized (1793–95)
De Luc and Blumenbach—Cultured despisers of religion—The politics of Genesis—Conclusion
6.5 “Geology” redefined (1794–97)
The sciences after Thermidor—Desmarest’s survey of geotheories—La Métherie’s geotheory—Saussure’s Agenda—Dolomieu on “geology”—Conclusion
7. Denizens of a former world
7.1 A mushroom in the field of savants (1794–96)
Fossil bones as a focal problem—The young Cuvier—The megatherium—The mammoth—Conclusion
7.2 Cuvier opens his campaign (1797–99)
Cave bears and fossil rhinos—Dolomieu and de Luc as Cuvier’s allies—Cuvier’s research program—Hostile critics—Jefferson’s megalonix—Conclusion
7.3 The Napoleon of fossil bones (1798–1800)
Savants in wartime—Cuvier and the First Consul—Cuvier’s network of informants—Cuvier’s international appeal—Conclusion
7.4 Lamarck’s alternative (1800–1802)
The threat of transformism—The response to Cuvier’s appeal—Mummified animals from Egypt—Lamarck’s Parisian fossils—Conclusion
7.5 Enlarging a fossil menagerie (1802–4)
A peaceful interlude—A cumulative case for extinction—Earlier and stranger mammals—Conclusion
8. Geognosy enriche
· · · · · · (收起)
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