Ice Age and Climate Change

Bölsche, Wilhelm, 1861-1939Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 202K words
Chapters: 21

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Eiszeit und Klimawechsel by Wilhelm BölscheAuthor: Bölsche, Wilhelm, 1861-1939,Language: German, Class: QE: Science: Geology, Release Date: Mar 31, 2019

Editor's review

This German popular science work takes readers back into the long history of Earth's dramatic climate fluctuations, offering an accessible account of the causes of ice ages and climate change. The author, Wilhelm Bölsche, combined experience in natural science writing with popular communication; his prose avoids formulas and jargon, instead linking evidence through observation, reasoning, and broad vistas, making geological questions read like a natural detective story. Its value lies in showing how early modern science understood ice ages: readers gain basic knowledge of glaciers and alternating warm and cold climates, and also sense how scientific understanding was expressed in a particular era. Suitable as German reading material and as supporting evidence in the history of science; best read slowly in a quiet setting, with a map or geological time scale at hand for comparison.

Who it's for

A good fit for

German-speaking readers interested in geology and the history of climate change
Learners hoping to improve their German reading through accessible popular science
Readers interested in science communication writing and the history of science

Not a good fit for

Chinese readers with no German reading ability at all
Specialist researchers expecting the latest climate data and contemporary conclusions

Reading tips

First browse the table of contents to grasp the chapter structure, then read chapter by chapter, avoiding interruptions from details that break overall understanding.
Keep a geological time scale at hand while reading, marking the ice ages and climate stages mentioned in the book.
When encountering unfamiliar German scientific terms, first guess from context, then look them up together after finishing a section.
Read alongside modern popular climate science, noting differences between early explanations and contemporary understanding.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book in Chinese or German?

The main text is in German, by Wilhelm Bölsche. It comes from Project Gutenberg and is a public-domain e-book. Chinese readers need some German foundation or translation tools to assist comprehension.

Does the book discuss contemporary climate change?

No. It was written in the early twentieth century and discusses geological questions of ice ages and climate change, reflecting the scientific understanding of its time. It can serve as a sample of science history and early popular science writing, but cannot replace the latest conclusions of contemporary climate science.

Can I read it without a geology background?

You can try. The book is written for general readers, uses few technical terms, and focuses on showing the reasoning process and natural panorama. Concepts such as glaciers and strata still require patience; consulting basic geological materials will make reading smoother.

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About the author

Bölsche, Wilhelm, 1861-1939 Author

Wilhelm Bölsche (1861–1939) was a German writer known for popularizing the natural sciences; details of his life are limited in publicly available sources, and the existing information centers mainly on his writings. Five of his works are held in the collection, focusing on the history of the Earth, the shifting of seas and continents, ice ages and climate change, and ecological phenomena such as defense and alliance in nature. He also wrote Der Mensch der Zukunft and published collections of scientific essays on animals and natural wonders, showing a tendency to turn rigorous knowledge into accessible narrative. Bölsche's writing often introduces geology, climatology, and biology in a lively essayistic style, addressing general readers rather than specialists. His works occupy a place in the early twentieth-century German tradition of popular science, using natural history to help the public understand the evolution of the Earth and of life, and contributing to the spread of scientific knowledge.