Finding Earth's Age and Other Developments in Geochronology
Overview
The discovery of radioactivity and radioactive decay has helped to solve many problems that have plagued geologist for centuries, especially the question of absolute ages of rocks, fossils, and Earth itself. These answers have provided a more rigorous science of geology and have given scientists in a large variety of fields firm data upon which to base their studies and hypotheses. In addition, by giving a scientifically unassailable age for Earth, isotopic methods have been used by many to argue against a literal interpretation of the Bible, and it is not uncommon for practitioners of this science to be called upon to testify in legal cases involving the teaching of evolution or variants of creationism.
Background
For uncounted centuries, man either had no idea of the age of Earth or, based on a literal reading of religious works, felt Earth to have been created not more than a few thousand years ago. During the nineteenth century, as geologists gained a better understanding of geologic processes, most scientists became certain of Earth's antiquity, but still lacked any real knowledge as to what that meant. Estimates of Earth's age ranged from a few million years to many billionsof years, all based on different methods of age determination.
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