The World's Best Book Summaries
What are the habitat fragmentation effects? How did human-driven fragmentation of the earth’s landmass influence species survival? As humans have reshaped the earth’s landmass, we’ve constrained the ability of other species to survive climate change. There are two main habitat fragmentation effects: 1) species lose the ability to move, and 2) their ability to reproduce declines. Read about the effects of habitat fragmentation.
What marked the start of the mass extinction timeline? How many mass extinction events were there and how did they affect our planet? The mass extinction timeline dates back to the end of the Ordovician period-beginning of the Silurian period. After the Ordovician extinction, there were four more extinction events, the most recent one being the dinosaur extinction 65 million years ago. Here is a brief overview of the mass extinction timeline and the planetary effects of each extinction event.
What is species dispersal and how does it affect biodiversity? What role did humans play in spreading animal species across continents? Species dispersal is the spreading of the species populations from their birthplace to other locations of breeding. It can be both natural (e.g. dispersing a seed via the wind) or human-caused. The human-driven species dispersal may have started as far back as 120000 years ago. Read about species dispersal and its role in global biodiversity.
What is normal science? How do the methods of normal science differ from those of revolutionary science? Normal science means study based on previous scientific knowledge. In contrast to revolutionary science, normal science doesn’t try to find new information, but only to confirm and refine current beliefs. Read more to learn about normal science and its methods.
What are the causes of amphibian extinction? Which amphibian species have and are becoming extinct? Amphibian extinction has come to the attention of scientists in the late 1980s. According to experts, however, we are not only witnessing the amphibian extinction event, we are also causing it. Keep reading to learn about amphibian extinction, which species are affected, and what is causing it.
What is the cause of megafauna extinction? What role did we—humans—play in the decline of biodiversity in the supersized animal kingdom? The causes of megafauna extinction have puzzled scientists dating back to Cuvier’s day, when the fossils of huge unknown creatures began turning up. Researchers have debated whether megafauna disappeared due to climate change or was killed by humans. But most scientists today lean toward blaming humans. Keep reading to learn about megafauna extinction: which species have gone extinct, and what were the causes.
What is the Thomas Kuhn paradigm shift theory? What are the processes that make scientists revise their existing frameworks and make a paradigm shift? According to the Thomas Kuhn paradigm shift theory, when scientists make a discovery that doesn’t fit into any of the existing models, there’s a shift. Establishing a new paradigm is what cements a field of study as a science. Read on to learn about Thomas Kuhn’s paradigm shift theory.
Who is Walter Alvarez? How did he come to the conclusion that it was an asteroid strike that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago? Walter Alvarez was an American geologist who is best known for his asteroid strike theory. In the late 1970s, Alvarez discovered a large amount of iridium in the rock layers in the Gola Del Bottaccione gorge and theorized that there was an asteroid strike 65 million years ago. Keep reading to learn about Walter Alvarez’ asteroid strike theory.
What is the white-nose syndrome? Where did it originate and how did it spread? How does it cause death in hibernating bats? White-nose syndrome is a disease caused by a cold-climate fungus that affects hibernating bats. Researchers are not sure how exactly the white-nose syndrome kills bats, but they came up with two hypotheses. Read about the white-nose syndrome, its origin, effects, and how it is implicated in the deaths of bats.
What are scientific paradigms? What functions do they serve and how do they get established? Scientific paradigms are the overarching frameworks within a scientific discipline that determine what constitutes legitimate contributions to the field. In that sense, paradigms dictate the problems to be solved and provide the tools with which to solve those problems. Read on to learn about scientific paradigms, how they get established, and what role they play in the development of science.