The Science of Discworld Revised Edition

76
    and moons 171
    movement/orbits of 35, 90, 117, 119, 123–5, 127–30
    size of 117
    Planet X (undiscovered planet) 93
    plants 34, 134, 158–62, 195, 210–11, 218, 301, 306, 311, 318
    plates, Earth’s 148
    Pleistocene era 227
    plesiosaurs 285–7, 309
    pliosaurs 285–6
    Pluto 93, 117–20, 123–4, 171, 255, 257
    plutonium 80
    Poincaré, Henri 91
    Poisson distribution 254
    polarity, reversing of Earth’s 145, 148
    pollution 227, 307, 365
    in stars 80
    polonium 81
    Polyakov, Alexander 26
    ‘Population I and II’ stars 80, 83
    population growth
    and food supply 100
    rates 212
    positive electrical charge 76
    potassium 165
    potential energy 37
    potentiality 50–1
    power beaming 368
    Pre-Cambrian era
    Ediacarans 198–201, 242
    triploblasts 199–201, 231
    Pre-Cambrian/Palaeozoic (Cambrian) boundary 242
    precession 178–9
    of the equinoxes 35
    primitive organisms 238–9
    printing 335, 353–4
    prions 216–7, 326
    privatives 183–6, 188*
    probability theory 269–70, 273, 275
    process 41–2, 44, 59, 61, 73, 109, 116, 187–8, 196, 201, 209, 213, 348–9
    mind as 351–2
    processing 349
    progress, human 347
    prokaryotes 198
    proteins 162, 197, 215, 217–8
    Protoarchaeopteryx
291
    protons 61, 76–9, 81–2
    protozoans 284
    PSR 1257+12 pulsar 128
    PSR 1829–10 pulsar 127–8
    Pteranodon
290
    pterodactyls 283, 290, 309
    pterosaurs 309
    Ptolemy (Claudius Ptomelaeus) 90
    pulsar 126–9, 373
    ‘punctuated equilibrium’ theory of evolution 240
    pyrite 197
    pyroxine 142
    Q
    qualia 338
    quantum mechanics 25, 32, 44, 77, 79*, 91, 95, 101, 107–10
    quantum systems 109
    quantum wave functions 108–10, 188
    quarks 60
    quartz 306
    quasars, light emitted by 26, 92
    Queloz, Didier 129
    questions, little and big 51–2
    Quetzalcoatlus
290
    quintessence 95
    R
    rabbits 246, 316, 321, 323
    radiation 58, 77, 93, 102, 127, 204
    radioactive decay 80
    radioactivity 22
    radio astronomy 125, 130
    radio telescopes 126
    radio waves 125–6, 130, 144
    radium 80
    rainbow, colour and shape of 43
    rainfall 322
    rainforests 161, 365, 381
    burning of 365
    randomness 47, 75, 104, 107–8, 121, 124, 196, 211, 213–4, 219–20, 239*, 242, 268–9, 271, 273, 276, 305, 324, 349, 380
    Rebolo, Rafael 123
    recombination (cross-breeding algorithms) 219
    recursion 375, 384
    red 57
    red blood cells 316
    red giant 259–60
    Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars
(Robinson) 372
    red shift 57
    reductionism 101–2, 107, 222
    regulatory (homeotic) genes 218
    reifying 185
    Relativity, Theory of (Einstein) 44, 91–5, 101
    new observations casting doubt on 93–6
    religion 54, 166, 189, 206, 213–4, 378
    reproduction 196, 201, 304
    reptiles 241, 243, 309, 317–9
    repulsive force in gravity 94–5
    resilience of life 279, 300, 364
    rhinoceros 311, 323–4
    rings of satellites 117
    Rite of Spring
(Stravinsky) 289
    rivers 35, 40, 165, 226
    Roberts, Richard 322
    Robinson, Kim Stanley 372
    rockets, space 37–40, 201, 325, 364, 367, 369
    rodents 321
    Ruben, John 291*
    rule-changing universe 62–3, 83
    rules 9,11–12, 36–7, 40, 42, 51, 63, 83, 90, 111, 115, 121, 124, 152, 154, 156, 201, 295
    about life 295, 300
    origin of 100–10
    S
    sabre-toothed tiger 324
    Sagan, Carl 158
    Sahara Desert 146
    Saint Augustine 55
    salt(s) 34*, 72, 134, 164–5, 191
    hydrated 134
    sample space 269–72, 274–5
    Santiago, David 95
    satellite photography 140
    satellites 117, 120, 133, 170–1
    communications 39, 126, 140, 369–70
    Saturn 93, 117–8, 120, 157, 253
    Saudi Arabia 254
    ‘savannah’ theory of human evolution 334, 336–7
    Sceptical Chymist, The
(Boyle) 72
    Schaüffelein, Hans 367
    Schmidt, Brian 94
    Schrag, Daniel 230–1
    Schrödinger, Erwin 108–10
    Schrödinger’s cat 13, 108–10
    Schumacher, Michael 268
    science 9–13, 25, 32, 35–7, 40–44, 58, 62, 72–3, 78, 87–8, 90, 95, 101, 116, 125, 175, 185, 188, 211, 213, 219, 268, 303, 312, 338, 378
    and common sense 87–8
    and magic 32–44
    and process 44
    stories of 11
    and universe 35–6
    science fiction 133, 196, 197*, 355, 365, 370
    and space exploration 365
    seas 114, 140, 156, 164–5, 171–2, 193, 198, 227, 231, 246–7, 276, 307, 357
    see also
oceans
    seashore 202, 247, 334, 337
    theory of human evolution 336–7
    sea urchins 243, 306
    second-generation immigrants 352
    Second Law of Thermodynamics 201
    sects 355
    sedimentary rocks 165, 195
    selection
    natural 211–2, 219, 303
    pressure 242
    unnatural 203–8
    selective reporting 272–4, 302
    self-awareness of human brain 338
    sequoia