The Chronologers' Quest: The Search for the Age of the Earth

The history of geology and how we learned about the age of the Earth is a fascinating subject, but Jackson, a geologist at Trinity College, Dublin, is unable to explain and pass along his enthusiasm. Aficionados might appreciate the tour through attempts to arrive at the planet's age from ancient myths, the Bible, the salinity of the oceans, temperature readings, fossils, geology, biology, radiology and cosmology. Each chapter ends with a "close but no cigar" statement of why a given theory was a good idea at the time.