PART ONE
IN THE BEGINNING
Chapter 1 Ab Origine
Planet Formation___________________________________1
Further Problems with Circumstellar Disks_____________3
The Plasma Ejection Model__________________________5
Earth's Primordial Sub-Brown Host____________________7
A Dimmer Sun______________________________________10
The Proto-Saturnian Primary_________________________12
Chapter 2 Geogenesis
The Pre-Biotic Soup________________________________15
The Ultraviolet Environment_________________________17
Phylogenetic Memory_______________________________19
Insect Eyes________________________________________20
Ultraviolet Reflection_______________________________22
Of Harm and Benefit________________________________25
The Colors of the Universe__________________________27
The Purple Earth___________________________________31
Chapter 3 Geognosy
The Stratified Signature of Catastrophe_______________33
Coal Seams_________________________________________42
Cosmic Precipitation________________________________48
Carbon Stars________________________________________50
Planetary Hydrocarbons______________________________54
The Origin of Petroleum______________________________56
Rains of Naphtha____________________________________62
The Rancho La Brea Tar Sands________________________65
Chapter 4 Stellar Flares
The Antics of SN1987A_______________________________71
Electric Discharges__________________________________73
Cellular Plasma______________________________________75
Multiple Supernovae_________________________________79
The Evolving Nature of Brown Dwarf Stars______________80
Hazards of Life Beneath a Brown Dwarf Star____________82
PART TWO
REVOLUTIONS
Chapter 5 A Thumbnail History of Gigantism
Those Terrible Lizards___________________________________________88
The Endothermic Controversy_____________________________________90
The Origin of Birds: An Unsettled Question___________________________94
Scales Versus Feathers_________________________________________101
Preservation versus Age________________________________________110
Giants on the Wing____________________________________________111
Wings on the Wind____________________________________________114
The Megasaurs_______________________________________________117
Weight-Lifting Power__________________________________________122
Attenuated Gravity____________________________________________127
Shrinking Homo______________________________________________128
The Ups and Downs of Gigantism_________________________________132
The Roche Limit______________________________________________134
Chapter 6 Mass and Gravity
The Shrinking Earth____________________________________________140
The Expanding Earth___________________________________________141
The Pros and Cons of Earth Expansion_____________________________145
Terrestrial Gravitational Anomalies_________________________________147
Spatial Gravitational Anomalies___________________________________150
Repulsive Gravity______________________________________________158
The Gravitational Constant_______________________________________161
Electromagnetism Versus Gravity__________________________________162
Sub-Atomic Dipolarity__________________________________________166
Changes in Electrical Potential____________________________________167
A Change in Mass_____________________________________________168
Objections Raised and Overruled__________________________________169
Chapter 7 Sudden Violence
Survival of the Fortunate_________________________________________175
Eradication of the Hapless________________________________________177
The Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary_________________________________178
Catastrophism Wins the Day______________________________________180
Proposed Causes______________________________________________188
The Deccan traps and Vulcan's Role________________________________190
Appeals to Plate Tectonics_______________________________________192
The Impact Theory_____________________________________________194
The Iridium Layer______________________________________________196
Osmium Lends its Weight________________________________________198
Worldwide Fire_______________________________________________200
The Search for the Crater_______________________________________201
Chicxulub____________________________________________________203
Chapter 8 Paradigms Lost
The Great Dyings______________________________________________207
Periodicity of Extinctions: Pros and Cons___________________________214
Nemesis, the Milky Way, and Planet X_____________________________215
Disparity Among Intellects: The Great Debate_______________________217
Cosmic Ray Bombardment_______________________________________227
The Supernova Challenge_______________________________________228
The Proto-Saturnian Solution_____________________________________234
The Polar Dinosaurs____________________________________________251
Wrapping Up_________________________________________________256
PART THREE
THE TOROIDS
Chapter 9 Celestial Bands
Epochal Ice: Resetting the Stage___________________________________260
Ice-Shy Latitudes______________________________________________264
Further Evidence______________________________________________266
The Sub-Star Predicament_______________________________________268
Terrestrial Rings_______________________________________________273
Hooker's Chilling Belt___________________________________________281
The Tell-Tale Zone_____________________________________________285
Chapter 10 Dusty Rings
The Auroras__________________________________________________287
The Terella Experiments_________________________________________291
The Auroral Ovals_____________________________________________294
Land of Eternal Shadow_________________________________________296
Disparities Resolved____________________________________________305
Toroidal Extremities____________________________________________307
Chapter 11 Earth's Southern Pole
Tropical Glaciers______________________________________________311
The East Antarctic Anomaly_____________________________________316
Clearer Evidence from West Antarctica____________________________319
The Southern Oval____________________________________________322
Chapter 12 Plasma And All That
Thermally Incommensurate Planets______________________________323
Plasmaspheric Shapes_________________________________________324
Resolving the Antarctic Dilemma_________________________________333
Earth's Dusty Burden__________________________________________337
The Tell-Tale Signature_______________________________________339
In Conclusion________________________________________________340
Epilogue
Life's Origin_________________________________________________343
Interplanetary Discharges_____________________________________345
Evolutionary Mutations_______________________________________348
Our Chaotic Neighborhood____________________________________352
Strangers in a Foreign Galaxy__________________________________355
Index
A to Z_____________________________________________________359