Description
How old is the Earth? This lecture reviews the idea of cyclic and
linear time, since how you view time determines whether the question of
the age of the Earth is even meaningful. We then review various ways
people have estimated the age of the Earth, starting with historical
ages that equate human history with the history of the Earth proper, and
then see how various physical estimates, which do not make an appeal to
human history, were made. This brings us to the technique of
radioactive age dating of the oldest rocks, leading to our current best
estimate of 4.5+/-0.1 Billion years for the age of our planet. Recorded
2006 Oct 30 in 100 Stillman Hall on the Columbus campus of The Ohio
State University.
A new podcast, Astronomy 141, Life in the Universe, is available
for those interested in continuing an exploration of topics in
modern astronomy.
Published 12/06/09
Are there planets around other stars? Are there Earth-like planets
around other stars? Do any of those harbor life? Intelligent life?
We'd like to know the answers to all of these questions, and in recent
years we've made great progress towards at least answering the first.
To date, more...
Published 12/01/06