Cover of The key to the future
Read Time: ~2.2 hr

The key to the future

by John Cater (2002)

About this book

"Here is a book for everyone who has an interest in how our planet works, what has happened during its 4,550 million-year history, and what might happen in the future. It tells how Earth scientists study the pattern of events that have shaped the planet and guided the evolution of life on Earth. In clear and simple language it describes how the effects of these events are measured and the careful detective work needed to unravel the extraordinary complexity of Earth history. The latest advances in dating methods, including the detection of regular patterns of global climate change, are explained and illustrated with real case histories. Our environment is unexpectedly unstable. Dramatic and catastrophic changes in the environment have directed the evolution of life and the rise of Man, and we can expect similar events in the future. If we are to control their effects, we will have to understand what to expect - and what could happen if we try to intervene in the 'natural' development of our home, the Earth."--Jacket.

Setting / LocationDeep Space
Story EraContemporary / Future
Protagonist / CoreThe key to the future Lead Character

Readers who enjoyed this also loved

Cover of Viral nation

Viral nation

Shaunta Grimes

"After a virus claimed 95 percent of the global population, the world changed. The United States splintered into fifty walled cities where the surviving citizens clustered to start over. The Company, which ended the plague by bringing a life-saving vaccine back from the future, controls everything. They ration the scant food and supplies through a lottery system, mandate daily doses of virus suppressant, and even monitor future timelines to stop crimes before they can be committed. Brilliant but autistic, sixteen-year-old Clover Donovan has always dreamed of studying at the Waverly-Stead Academy. Her brother and caretaker, West, has done everything in his power to make her dream a reality. But Clover's refusal to part with her beloved service dog denies her entry into the school. Instead, she is drafted into the Time Mariners, a team of Company operatives who travel through time to gather news about the future. When one of Clover's missions reveals that West's life is in danger, the Donovans are shattered. To change West's fate, they'll have to take on the mysterious Company. But as its secrets are revealed, they realize that the Company's rule may not be as benevolent as it seems. In saving her brother, Clover will face a more powerful force than she ever imagined ... and will team up with a band of fellow misfits and outsiders to incite a revolution that will change their destinies forever"--

Cover of Dirge

Dirge

Alan Dean Foster

Chosen by Science Fiction Chronicle as One of the Best Books of the YearBestselling author Alan Dean Foster has written an exciting Humanx Commonwealth adventure that delves deeper into the fragile early years when humans made first contact in this unforgettable world . . .In the second half of the twenty-fourth century, diplomatic relations proceed cautiously between thranx and humans. But the insectlike beings are nearly forgotten with the sudden discovery of an ideal planet to colonize--Argus V--and the startling appearance of a new race of space-faring aliens. People are dazzled by the beautiful, glamorous pitar. Then tragedy strikes.The entire human population on Argus V is brutally slaughtered. Not a single clue remains to identify the unseen executioners. But from a tiny inner moon of Argus V comes a faint signal. On that insignificant chunk of rubble lies the key to the crime--setting in motion a cataclysmic chain of events with deadly consequences for thranx, pitar, and human alike. For their worlds will be changed forever by a colossal battle that is their future and their destiny . . .From the Paperback edition.

Cover of Star Trek - Log Two

Star Trek - Log Two

Alan Dean Foster

More lively adaptations from television's most popular science-fiction series! Complete in this volume The Survivor Our old friend Carter Winston is back aboard the Enterprise for a visit — or is he? The Lorelei Signal A strange "siren's song" calls the men of the Enterprise to an exotic planet — Lt. Uhura to the rescue! The Infinite Vulcan On a routine mission to Phylos, Spock is mysteriously kidnapped — he faces a dubious future!

Cover of Star Trek - Ishmael

Star Trek - Ishmael

Barbara Hambly

The Enterprise is on a peaceful mission at Starbase 12 when a bizarre cosmic phenomenon causes a Klingon ship to suddenly vanish - with Spock aboard for the ride. Spock's last message from the Klingon ship is cryptic and frightening. The Klingons are travelling into the past, searching for the one man who holds a vital key to the future. If they can kill that man, the course of history will be changed - and the Federation will be destroyed!

The key to the future by John Cater | Literally Just Books