Kirill Eskov - amazing paleontology. Kirill Yurievich Eskov Amazing paleontology: The history of the Earth and life on it

K. Yu. Eskov

AMAZING PALEONTOLOGY

History of the Earth and life on it

In blessed memory of Sergei Viktorovich Meyen - scientist and teacher

The goal of this training course, I see it, is for the student to have the most complete picture of the functioning of the Earth's biosphere in the process of its historical development. Meanwhile, one of the provisions of the theory of systems says: the system cannot be optimized by two independent parameters at the same time; in particular, in order to achieve the integrity of the picture being drawn, one inevitably has to sacrifice its detail, or vice versa. Trying to fit a bigger student into the head specific facts in the absence of some generalizing concept, will inevitably lead us to create a degraded copy of the old university course of paleontology - the dull martyrology extinct organisms, which, after passing the exam, should be forgotten like a bad dream. That is why in many cases I quite consciously sacrificed paleontological and geological specifics in favor of theoretical (sometimes rather speculative) generalizations.

Because this training course is intended not for the “average student”, but for people who are going to connect their fate with science, it makes sense to demonstrate here the entire “scientific kitchen” as far as possible: the course of reasoning that led the researcher to the conclusions under discussion, the history of the struggle of various theories etc. At the same time, I tried to be honest with weaknesses not only past, but also now dominant scientific concepts; to some, this may seem like “undermining the authority of science in the eyes of a schoolboy,” but I think otherwise. Choosing the form of presentation, I tried to bring it closer (as far as possible) to a real scientific text - let them get used to it. Incidentally, selection light italic terms and names of organisms means that there is an entry about this in the corresponding dictionary at the end of the book. (Also marked Latin names species and genera.)

Einstein once remarked (quite rightly) that if a scientist is not able to explain to a child the essence of his work at an accessible level, this indicates his professional unsuitability. This is true, but in the course of the discussion, we will need to refer to the knowledge accumulated in other than paleontology, areas (they are set out in additional, "plug-in" chapters intended only for those who wish). To be honest, I cannot guarantee that my presentation, for example, of the principles of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, which, of course, is not within the scope of my professional studies, will be sufficiently qualified and, moreover, intelligible.

I also want to warn you that sometimes I will state facts and generalizations. recent years, which in principle can be called "insufficiently tested" or, in any case, "not generally accepted". On this occasion, it should be noted that in paleontology, with the "generally accepted" concepts, things are generally unimportant; probably this common feature of all the sciences dealing with the events of the past - after all, in them it is possible to directly confirm or refute a certain theory only if you have at your disposal the notorious time machine. In this connection, it seems appropriate to me to relate one instructive story, of which I myself was a witness.

Several years ago, at the Paleontological Institute of the Academy of Sciences, where I have the honor to work, Scientific Conference dedicated to the climates of the past. The whole color of domestic paleontology was present (and since Russia, oddly enough, continues to be one of the recognized leaders in this area, so the world, respectively, too). When developing the paleoclimatic reconstructions all possibilities were mobilized modern science- from the finest geochemical and radioisotope analysis to latest methods computer simulation. When it came to discussing the reports, Professor N, known for the causticity of his assessments, came to the podium and began as follows: “Dear colleagues! I categorically insist that the Earth is round. ( Light noise in the hall. ) I also insist that the Earth rotates, and its axis of rotation is tilted relative to plane of the ecliptic. From these three circumstances it follows, as you should know from the geography course for the sixth grade high school, Existence equatorial-polar temperature gradient, western transport in the atmosphere and the change of seasons. ( The noise in the hall is replaced by complete silence. ) So, I draw your attention to the fact that in the vast majority of the paleoclimatic reconstructions presented here, at least one of these initial conditions is violated…”.

It is unlikely that there will be a reconstruction in paleontology, about which there would be complete unanimity among specialists.

And you can arbitrarily compare deeply various points view, based both on the literature and on the personal assessments of experts in the field, but the final choice - and the moral responsibility associated with it - still falls on the shoulders of the course compiler. The main thing with such a choice, as I believe, is not to forget at least that “the Earth is round” - and so on ...

I take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to my colleagues, geologists and biologists - O. A. Afanasyeva, V. Yu. Dmitriev, A. Yu. Zhuravlev, G. A. Zavarzin, E. N. Kurochkin, A. A. Karhu, O A. Lebedev, V. M. Moralev, A. Yu. Rozanov, A. G. Sennikov, M. A. Fedonkin, A. B. Shipunov, whose advice I used in the course of my work. I would like to express special gratitude to M. B. Burzin, V. V. Zherikhin, A. G. Ponomarenko, and A. S. Rautian, who took the trouble to read the manuscript and express valuable criticisms. I thank the Moscow Gymnasium No. 1543 and its director Yu. V. Zavelsky for giving me the opportunity to develop and improve this special course in 1995-1999.

The age of the Earth and the solar system. Absolute and relative age. Geological scale

First of all, we note that for scientists, in itself, the formulation of the question of the age of the Earth was once very revolutionary - for "age" implies the presence of a "date of birth". Of course, in any of the religions, the corresponding deity creates the Earth with the creatures inhabiting it from the primordial Chaos, however European science inherited from the ancient materialist philosophers a fundamentally different vision of the World. For her, the Earth has always been an integral part of the very Universe, which is "one, infinite and motionless ... It is not born and is not destroyed ... It cannot decrease and increase" (Giordano Bruno). But at the end of the Middle Ages, astronomers discover the existence of the so-called new stars: it turns out that the heavens are not absolutely unchanged, as was thought from time immemorial! Consequently, in principle, the most decisive (from the point of view of Humanity) of all possible changes are also possible: the beginning and end of the existence of the Earth and the visible part of the Universe. And if so, can't we try to establish when it was Start and what will this the end - without resorting to mythology (six days of creation, Twilight of the gods, etc.)?

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Description of the section "Books on paleontology"

AT this section you can download for free and without registration Books on paleontology. Paleontology is the science of the fossil remains of plants and animals, trying to reconstruct their appearance, biological features, methods of nutrition, reproduction, etc., as well as to restore the course of biological evolution on the basis of this information.

Paleontologists study not only the remains of animals and plants themselves, but also their fossilized traces, discarded shells, taphocenoses and other evidence of their existence. Paleontology also uses the methods of paleoecology and paleoclimatology in order to reproduce the living environment of organisms, to compare modern environment habitats of organisms, hypotheses of extinct habitats, and so on.

A large number of books are devoted to the main sections of paleontology - paleozoology and paleobotany. Paleozoology is divided into invertebrate paleozoology and vertebrate paleozoology. And paleobotany - on paleoalgology, paleopalinology, paleocarpology and other sections. There is also paleomycology - the study of fossil remains of fungi. Micropaleontology is the study of ancient microorganisms.

Read books on paleontology. After all, paleontology is the study of life and those organisms from which neither bodily remains, nor shells, nor imprints have been preserved. However, the traces of life activity left by them on Earth can tell a lot not only about their structure, but also about their behavior, relationships with neighbors and habitat. This branch of paleontology is called paleoichnology.

Be sure to read the book about our planet "The History of the Earth and Life on It" by Eskov K.Yu. Also a very popular book is the book "Space Code" by Sitchin Z.

I see the purpose of this training course in that the student has the most complete picture of the functioning of the Earth's biosphere in the process of its historical development. Meanwhile, one of the provisions of the theory of systems says: the system cannot be optimized by two independent parameters at the same time; in particular, in order to achieve the integrity of the picture being drawn, one inevitably has to sacrifice its detail, or vice versa. Trying to cram more concrete facts into the student's head in the absence of some generalizing concept will inevitably lead us to create a degraded copy of the old university paleontology course - dull martyrology extinct organisms, which, after passing the exam, should be forgotten like a bad dream. That is why in many cases I quite consciously sacrificed paleontological and geological specifics in favor of theoretical (sometimes rather speculative) generalizations.

Since this training course is not intended for the “average student”, but for people who are going to link their fate with science, it makes sense to demonstrate here the entire “scientific kitchen” as far as possible: the course of reasoning that led the researcher to the conclusions under discussion, the history of the struggle of various theories etc. At the same time, I tried to honestly point out the weaknesses of not only past, but also now dominant scientific concepts; to some, this may seem like “undermining the authority of science in the eyes of a schoolboy,” but I think otherwise. Choosing the form of presentation, I tried to bring it (as far as possible) closer to a real scientific text - let them get used to it. Incidentally, selection light italic terms and names of organisms means that there is an entry about this in the corresponding dictionary at the end of the book. (Latin names of species and genera are also highlighted.)

Einstein once remarked (quite rightly) that if a scientist is not able to explain to a child the essence of his work at an accessible level, this indicates his professional unsuitability. This is true, but in the course of the discussion, we will need to refer to the knowledge accumulated in other than paleontology, areas (they are set out in additional, "plug-in" chapters intended only for those who wish). To be honest, I cannot guarantee that my presentation, for example, of the principles of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, which, of course, is not within the scope of my professional studies, will be sufficiently qualified and, moreover, intelligible.

I also want to warn you that sometimes I will present facts and generalizations of recent years, which in principle can be called "insufficiently verified" or, in any case, "not generally accepted." On this occasion, it should be noted that in paleontology, with the "generally accepted" concepts, things are generally unimportant; this is probably a common feature of all sciences dealing with past events, because in them it is possible to directly confirm or disprove a certain theory only if you have at your disposal the notorious time machine. In this connection, it seems appropriate to me to relate one instructive story, of which I myself was a witness.

A few years ago, a scientific conference was held at the Paleontological Institute of the Academy of Sciences, where I have the honor to work, dedicated to the climates of the past. The whole color of domestic paleontology was present (and since Russia, oddly enough, continues to be one of the recognized leaders in this area, so the world, respectively, too). When developing the paleoclimatic reconstructions all the possibilities of modern science were mobilized - from the finest geochemical and radioisotope analysis to the latest computer modeling methods. When it came to discussing the reports, Professor N, known for the causticity of his assessments, came to the podium and began as follows: “Dear colleagues! I categorically insist that the Earth is round. ( Light noise in the hall. ) I also insist that the Earth rotates, and its axis of rotation is tilted relative to plane of the ecliptic. From these three circumstances, it follows, as you should know from your 6th grade high school geography course, that there is equatorial-polar temperature gradient, western transport in the atmosphere and the change of seasons. ( The noise in the hall is replaced by complete silence. ) So, I draw your attention to the fact that in the vast majority of the paleoclimatic reconstructions presented here, at least one of these initial conditions is violated…”.

It is unlikely that there will be a reconstruction in paleontology, about which there would be complete unanimity among specialists.

And you can compare different points of view as deeply as you like, based both on the literature and on the personal assessments of experts in this field, but the final choice - and the moral responsibility associated with it - still falls on the shoulders of the course compiler. The main thing with such a choice, as I believe, is not to forget at least that the “Earth is round” - and so on ...

I take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to my colleagues, geologists and biologists - O. A. Afanasyeva, V. Yu. Dmitriev, A. Yu. Zhuravlev, G. A. Zavarzin, E. N. Kurochkin, A. A. Karhu, O A. Lebedev, V. M. Moralev, A. Yu. Rozanov, A. G. Sennikov, M. A. Fedonkin, A. B. Shipunov, whose advice I used in the course of my work. I would like to express special thanks to M. B. Burzin, V. V. Zherikhin, A. G. Ponomarenko, and A. S. Rautian, who took the trouble to read the manuscript and make valuable critical remarks. I thank the Moscow Gymnasium No. 1543 and its director Yu. V. Zavelsky for giving me the opportunity to develop and improve this special course in 1995-1999.

The age of the Earth and the solar system. Absolute and relative age. Geological scale.

First of all, we note that for scientists, in itself, the formulation of the question of the age of the Earth was once very revolutionary - for "age" implies the presence of a "date of birth". Of course, in any of the religions, the corresponding deity creates the Earth with the creatures inhabiting it from the primordial Chaos, but European science inherited a fundamentally different vision of the World from the ancient materialist philosophers. For her, the Earth has always been an integral part of the very Universe, which is "one, infinite and motionless ... It is not born and is not destroyed ... It cannot decrease and increase" (Giordano Bruno). But at the end of the Middle Ages, astronomers discover the existence of the so-called new stars: it turns out that the heavens are not absolutely unchanged, as was thought from time immemorial! Consequently, in principle, the most decisive (from the point of view of Humanity) of all possible changes are also possible: the beginning and end of the existence of the Earth and the visible part of the Universe. And if so, can't we try to establish when it was Start and what will this the end – without resorting to mythology (six days of creation, Twilight of the gods, etc.)?

It should be noted that people were initially interested in the age not of the Earth as celestial body, namely inhabited Earth - as they would say now, biosphere. However, it is clear that, having determined the time of the origin of life, we thereby obtain minimum term existence and the planet itself. And since the energy of the Sun was quite rightly believed to be the source of life on Earth, the age of our luminary, in turn, will give us maximum term existence of the biosphere.

Establishing the time of the existence of the Sun - after the laws of conservation of matter and energy were discovered - seemed to physicists a rather simple task. The sun constantly radiates energy into space, nothing comes back, so, in theory, the amount of energy in solar system must constantly decrease. The most energetically advantageous process (from known before the 20th century) is burning hard coal; heat and light are created as a result of chemical reaction C + O 2 → CO 2 + Q. And since we also know the value Q, and the amount of energy emitted by the Sun per unit of time, and the mass of the Sun (it was approximately calculated back in the 17th century), then it is possible to calculate the total lifetime of a coal fire of this size literally in one step. It was then that it turned out that he should burn to the ground in just one and a half thousand years. Of course, there are substances more energy-intensive than coal, but this does not solve the problem: the estimated lifetime of the Sun still turns out to be less than six thousand years, i.e. less time of existence of human civilization; it is clear that this is absurd.