The Science of Discworld Revised Edition

definition 74
    diversity of 74
    as quantum wave functions 108
    solar system as model for 76
    and quantum theory 77
    splitting 76
    unstable 81
    aurora australis 145
    aurora borealis 145
    Australia 38, 198, 222, 230, 308, 316, 320–1
    Australopithecus
294
    autonomous agent 62
    autopoeisis 196
    axion 94–5
    axis, Earth’s 176–8
    tilt of 179, 228
    Ayliffe, Linda 322
    B
    Babylonians 35, 90, 335
    baby universes 25, 63
    Backus, George 370
    bacteria 132–5, 158, 164–5, 195–8, 202, 231, 284
    theory of Europan 134–5
    Bailes, Matthew 127–8
    balloons 367
    hot air 143–4
    balls 115, 121, 295
    Bangladesh 159
    Banks, Iain 355
    Barbour, Julian 55
    barium 23
    basalt 142
    baseline (in telescope array) 131
    Basilosaurus
323
    bats 321
    Bay of Fundy 176
    Beagle
, HMS 210
    Beasley, Charlie 320
    becoming 196, 317
    and beginning 52–3, 61
    beetles, God’s fondness for 300–1
    belemnites 309
    Bell, Jocelyn 125–7
    Bell, Thomas 211
    Benford, Gregory 40
    Benford, James 368
    beryllium 22, 79
    atomic weight of 74
    Best, Joel 326
    Bible 35, 71
    creation according to 211
    Big Bang 26, 56–8, 63, 78–9, 80*, 101–2
    Big Crunch 57
    Big Freeze 230
    biological warfare 365
    biology 36–9, 44*, 164
    Biosphere 2 project 160–1
    Birch, Frances 141
    birds 38, 57, 160, 206, 237, 241, 243, 295, 321, 367
    and cats 212–3
    and dinosaurs 302, 310
    and lizards 207
    origin of 291
    Black Holes 62–3, 78, 96
    Blackmore, Susan 328
    blood 316, 335
    ancient seas in our 164–5
    bloodimindium (life turns up everywhere it can’t) 245, 264, 266
    blue-green algae 195
    blue whale 316
    Bohr, Neils 24
    boiling points 82, 162–3
    bolas principle in spacecraft 369
    bonobo (pygmy) chimp 334, 336, 338, 340
    books 9, 11, 132, 161,185, 197*, 203–4, 340, 348
    and development of society 353–4
    boron, atomic weight of 74
    Boyle, Robert 72, 74, 76
    Bradner, Hugh 370
    brain
    apes’ acquiring big 334
    cells 336
    evolution of 334, 336, 348
    human 336–341
    sensory systems of 222
    structures and development of 349–50
    and sex 341
    Brazil 161, 210
    breeding 71, 209, 212, 351
    bridge-playing and probability
    theory 270–2
    Brief History of Time, A
(Hawking) 11, 23†
    Britain 24, 159
    bromine 75
    brontosaur 283, 285, 288, 303
    Brontosaurus
(now
Apatosaurus)
303*
    Brown, Robert 129
    Brown, William 368
    brown dwarf 129
    BSE (mad cow disease) 217
    Bullard, Edward 147
    Burgess Shale 240–2
    Butler, Paul 129
    C
    Cairns-Smith, Graham 197
    calcium 73, 165
    calcium phosphate 200
    Calder Hall 32
    Callisto 133
    Caloris Basin (crater on Mercury) 307
    Cambrian era 199, 200, 231, 242
    Cambrian Explosion 199, 200, 231, 242
    Camelot 379
    Canada 253, 320
    cancer 268, 286
    cure for 381
    Cancri (55 Cancri star) 129
    Cantiani, Maria-Giulia 179
    Cape Canaveral space facility 367
    carbon 73, 75, 79, 82, 157, 159–61, 165, 197, 259–60, 369
    atomic weight of 74
    isotopes 230
    nanotubes 39, 371
    carbon dioxide 73, 157–62, 164–5, 216, 229, 231, 284, 307, 365
    Carboniferous period 284–5
    carbon monoxide 160
    cars 42, 159,161, 229
    catastrophes 238, 246, 300, 379, 380
    cats 13, 108–10, 212–3, 316, 324, 328, 345
    and birds 212–3
    cattle 229
    Caudipteryx
291
    causality 41, 54, 61, 103, 107
    cells 164–5, 195–6, 200, 215, 316
    brain 21, 336, 339
    nerve 107, 338, 339, 349
    centipedes 200
    Central America 148, 306, 320
    centrifugal force 119–20, 131, 141, 144, 176, 367
    chain reaction, nuclear 22, 24–5
    chance 211, 267, 270, 272–3
    role of in evolution 28, 242
    Chantcourtois, Alexandre-Emile Béguyrer de 75
    chaos 255, 266
    in solar system 124
    phase in Langton’s Ant system 104
    system 124
    Theory 12, 124
    charge
    electrical 76, 144
    moving 76–7
    charge-coupled device 130
    Charon 117, 171, 257
    chelicerates 241
    chelonium 73, 82, 152, 374
    chemistry 23, 71, 73–4, 76–8, 122, 134, 196, 201–2, 215
    Chicxulub crater, Yucatan, S. Mexico 306–8
    children, and dinosaurs 303
    see also ‘lies-to-children’
    Chile 148
    chimpanzee 238, 334–6
    chlorine 72, 75, 78
    atomic weight of 78
    chlorophyll 158, 195
    Christ, Jesus 335
    Christie-Blick, Nicholas 230
    Christy, Jim 171
    chromium isotopes 306
    chromosomes 60, 219
    circuits, evolution by crossbreeding 219–21
    circumference of Earth 89
    Clarke, Arthur C. 5, 39, 40, 370
    Clarke’s Law 41
    clay 197, 209, 306
    climate 146, 159,178, 226–30, 242, 322–3, 365
    cloning 60, 215
    Close Encounters of the Third Kind
327, 329
    coal 19, 161, 229, 232, 284
    Coca-Cola 352
    Coelacanth
286
    Cohen, Jack 41, 43, 79*, 269,