Evolution of Matter and Energy on a Cosmic and Planetary Scale

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

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2. Matter and Energy. The Interplay of Elementary Particles and Elementary Forces

   • M. Taube

   Pages 1-17

3. The Universe: How Is It Observed Here and Now? Its Past and Possible Future

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   Pages 18-29

4. The Origin and Nuclear Evolution of Matter

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   Pages 30-56

5. Chemical Evolution and the Evolution of Life: The Cosmic Phenomena

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   Pages 57-104

6. The Eternal Cycle of Matter on the Earth

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   Pages 105-134

7. The Flow of Energy on the Earth

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   Pages 135-191

8. The Biosphere: The Coupling of Matter and the Flow of Free Energy

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   Pages 192-224

9. Is the Future Development of Mankind on This Planet Possible?

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   Pages 225-245

10. The Distant Future of Mankind — Terrestrial or Cosmic?

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    Pages 246-274

11. Back Matter

    Pages 275-289

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My intention in this book is to describe in simple language, using a minimum of mathematics but a maximum of numerical values, the most important developments of science dealing with matter and energy on cosmic and global scales. In the conventional literature all of these findings are distributed among books and journals on physics, astronomy, chemistry, geology, biology, energy, engineering, and the environmental sciences. The main purpose here is to attempt to give a unified description of Nature from the elementary particles to the Universe as a whole. This is used as a basis for analysing the future development of mankind. The future evolution of the Universe, galaxies, stars, and planets gives some hope for the destiny of mankind. The problem of matter and energy flow on the Earth appears soluble even for the distant future. There seems to be no reason why a long period of human development on this planet should not be possible. The book has been prepared based on my lectures at the Warsaw University from 1959 to 1968 and during the 15 years 1969-1983 at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule) in Zurich and at the University of Zurich. I wish to give my sincere thanks to the Swiss Federal Institute for Reactor Research at Wurenlingen for their constant support. I am especially grateful to Mrs. Christine Stratton for setting up the English text and to Mr. R.W. Stratton and LG. McKinley for their helpful criticisms and remarks.

• Erosion
• Evolution
• biomass
• electricity
• wind

• Institut Fédéral de Recherches en Matière de Réacteurs, Eidgenössisches Institut für Reaktorforschung, Würenlingen, Switzerland

  M. Taube

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