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Description
The Mediterranean is full of beautiful vistas. But pretty landscapes are much more than a feast for the eyes. Throughout the ages, they have been a huge influence on our beliefs about the way our p...lanet works. In the Med, rocks fashioned the way people thought about everything from the existence of God to the extinction of dinosaurs. It was once believed many powerful gods were responsible for everything and that they showed their displeasure with almighty catastrophes such as earthquakes or volcanoes. Today, most accept the planet is shaped by the laws of nature. We know that whilst some geological processes are indeed catastrophic, others take place over millions and millions of years. Iain Stewart shows us how the rocks beneath our feet have been constantly forcing us to rethink our beliefs about life, the universe and everything. This is largely a story of religion and science, but it is also about the debate over geological timescales. We look at the disappearance of Helike; the conversion of King Constantine - thanks to a comet; the Lisbon earthquake; and we go on to look at the discoveries of pioneers such as Leclerc and Lyell. We finish by going into the more recent understanding of plate tectonics and the KT boundary.
The Mediterranean is full of beautiful vistas. But pretty landscapes are much more than a feast for the eyes. Throughout the ages, they have been a huge influence on our beliefs about the way our p...lanet works. In the Med, rocks fashioned the way people thought about everything from the existence of God to the extinction of dinosaurs. It was once believed many powerful gods were responsible for everything and that they showed their displeasure with almighty catastrophes such as earthquakes or volcanoes. Today, most accept the planet is shaped by the laws of nature. We know that whilst some geological processes are indeed catastrophic, others take place over millions and millions of years. Iain Stewart shows us how the rocks beneath our feet have been constantly forcing us to rethink our beliefs about life, the universe and everything. This is largely a story of religion and science, but it is also about the debate over geological timescales. We look at the disappearance of Helike; the conversion of King Constantine - thanks to a comet; the Lisbon earthquake; and we go on to look at the discoveries of pioneers such as Leclerc and Lyell. We finish by going into the more recent understanding of plate tectonics and the KT boundary.
| Series: | Journeys from the centre of the earth |
|---|---|
| First transmission date: | 2005 |
| Published: | 2005 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:59:10 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Clare Paterson |
| Contributor: | Iain Stewart |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Link to related site: | Website: http://www.open2.net/journeysfrom/ |
| Subject terms: | Religion and science; Geology |
| Production number: | LSFR982A |
| Videofinder number: | 6906 |
| Available to public: | no |
