Introduction to Earth and Life Science

1. Earth Science – The study of all aspects of the formation and composition of planets
with special attention to Earth.
(Geology, Oceanography, Meteorology, Planetology)
2. Life Science – The study of all living organisms.
(Biology, Marine Biology, Botany, Zoology, Entomology, Microbiology)

 Geology is the study of the solid Earth. Geologists study how rocks and minerals form.
The way mountains rise up is part of geology.

 Oceanography is the study of the oceans. The word oceanology might be more
accurate, since “ology” is “the study of.” “Graph” is “to write” and refers to mapmaking.
But mapping the oceans is how oceanography started.

 Meteorology includes the study of weather patterns, clouds, hurricanes, and tornadoes.
Meteorology is very important. Using radars and satellites, meteorologists work to
predict, or forecast, the weather

 PLANETOLOGY
How planets form in the solar systems including their composition and dynamics in
history. Tied closely to planetary geology, it also studies the physical features of planets,
moons and condensed matter.

 Biology is the science of life. Its name is derived from the Greek words "bios" (life) and
"logos" (study). Biologists study the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution and
distribution of living organisms

 Marine biology, the science that deals with animals and plants that live in the sea. It
also deals with air-borne and terrestrial organisms that depend directly upon bodies
of salt water for food and other necessities of life. In the broadest sense it attempts to
describe all vital phenomena pertaining to the myriads of living things that dwell in the
vast oceans of the world.

 Botany is the scientific study of plants, or multicellular organisms, that carry on

photosynthesis. As a branch of biology, botany sometimes is referred to as plant
science or plant biology

 Zoology: The study of animals, including classification, physiology, development, and

behavior.

 Entomology: The study of insects

 Microbiology: The study of microscopic organisms (microorganisms) and their

interactions with other living organisms
 Origin of the Universe Hypotheses

Timeline Civilization Beliefs

1700 – 1100 BC Ancient Indians The universe had an origin
470 – 322 BC Ancient Greek The universe is timeless and infinite
19th Century Western The universe is finite and static

Aristotelian Universe - The Greek philosopher Aristotle, in the 4th Century B.C.,
established a geocentric universe in which the fixed, spherical Earth is at the center,
surrounded by concentric celestial spheres of planets andstars.
 Brahmanda (Cosmic Egg) Universe - The Hindu Rigveda, written in India around the 15th
- 12th Century B.C., describes a cyclical or oscillating universe in which a “cosmic egg”,
or Brahmanda, containing the whole universe (including the Sun, Moon, planets and all of
space) expands out of a single concentrated point called a Bindu before subsequently
collapsing again. The universe cycles infinitely between expansion and total collapse.
 Heliocentric Universe - The 3rd Century B.C. Greek astronomer and mathematician
Aristarchus of Samos was the first to present an explicit argument for a heliocentric model
of the Solar System, placing the Sun, not the Earth, at the center of the known universe.
He described the Earth as rotating daily on its axis and revolving annually about the Sun
in a circular orbit, along with a sphere of fixedstars.
 Ptolemaic Universe - The 2nd Century A.D. Roman-Egyptian mathematician and
astronomer Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus) described a geocentric model largely based
on Aristotelian ideas, in which the planets and the rest of the universe orbit about a
stationary Earth in circular epicycles.
 Philolaus was a philosopher in Ancient Greece around 390 B.C. who followed the
Pythagorean school of thought. He believed that there was something he referred to as
a “central fire” that everything else in the universe revolved around, including the moon,
earth, and the other planets. However, in his theory, the “central fire” wasn’t the sun
itself. The sun is said to have revolved around the “central fire”, as well. Other
Pythagorean philosophers expanded on this way of thinking, as well, including
Heraclides of Pontus.
 Monsignor Georges Lemaître was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest, physicist and
astronomer. He is usually credited with the first definitive formulation of the idea of
an expanding universe and what was to become known as the Big Bang theory of the
origin of the universe, which Lemaître himself called his “hypothesis of the primeval atom”
or the “Cosmic Egg”.

The Eras of The Big Bang Theory 1 (To be Continued)

Time Eras Phenomena

10−40 second Plank The Universe was very tiny and made up of
condensed energy, it is called the “super force”
or “singularity”.
10−20 second GUT The supergravity splits into two types of force.
 Gravity and GUT force. It causes the “inflation”
of the universe.
10−10 second Electroweak Gravity, nuclear strong, nuclear weak,
electromagnetic forces started operating in the
universe.

The Eras of The Big Bang Theory 2 (Continuation)

Time Eras Phenomena

1 milliseconds Particle Photons started colliding with each other, later
forms matter and antimatter of particles called
electrons, neutrinos and quarks.
3 Minutes Nuclei The universe is 75% Hydrogen and 25% Helium.
Hydrogen and Helium nuclei started to capture
electrons and formed stable neutral atoms.
1 Billion years Atom and The universe now consisted neutral atoms and
Galaxy plasma and gathered together to form
protogalactic clouds, stars are formed within the
clouds and clouds became galaxies.

The Process of Nebular Theory

Phenomena
Supernova in nearby interstellar
space
Accretion in inner nebula
Some planetesimals avoided
Fragmentation
Rapid accretion on outer nebula
Blowing off of remaining gas by sun
Result
- Collapsing of solar nebula
- Build up off Protosun surrounded by
Protoplanetary disk
- Collision of particles in protoplanetary disk
- Formation of Planetesimals
- Formation of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars
- Formation of larger, icy planetesimals; Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
- Capturing of H and He
- Stabilizing of the Solar System