Portrait of Lord Kelvin

"Drawing on the lives of five great scientists -- Charles Darwin, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Linus Pauling, Fred Hoyle and Albert Einstein -- scientist/author Mario Livio shows how even the greatest scientists made major mistakes and how science built on these errors to achieve breakthroughs, especially into the evolution of life and the universe"--

This book spells out in detail how the age of the Earth has been determined over the centuries. First — the 'biblical' age: how was the date of Creation 4004 BC figured out? A date which is so important even today ... it is the basis of claims made by millions that the Earth is only about 6000 years old. Next — the response of geologists (and Darwin) for a very old Earth. Then, Kelvin's calculation of how long it would take for a hot Earth to cool down to its present state. And finally, today's answer ('billions'), based on the properties of radioactive materials. So, how old is Planet Earth?Related Link(s)

This study of Lord Kelvin, the most famous mathematical physicist of 19th-century Britain, delivers on a speculation long entertained by historians of science that Victorian physics expressed in its very content the industrial society that produced it.