https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/09/02/turning-to-stone-discovering-the-subtle-wisdom-of-rocks-marcia-bjornerud-book-review

there has been a philosophical shift in our understanding of the planet. In the 1970s and 80s, textbooks tended to emphasize Earth’s insignificance in the vastness of space, and the idea that there was nothing particularly special about this planet. But since the 1990s, with new data about Venus and Mars, and a growing census of exoplanets outside the Solar System, it has become clear that Earth is really peculiar. Most importantly, we have realized that the critical difference lies not in the planet’s raw starting materials or mere distance from the Sun, but in the self-sustaining habits it has maintained over time.

https://orionmagazine.org/article/marcia-bjornerud-interview-turning-to-stone/

I have a thing for geology and deep time. I enjoyed this review of geologist Marcia Bjornerud’s new book in The New Yorker this week:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/09/02/turning-to-stone-discovering-the-subtle-wisdom-of-rocks-marcia-bjornerud-book-review

Now here’s a lovely interview with Bjornerud: https://orionmagazine.org/article/marcia-bjornerud-interview-turning-to-stone/

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