Peter D. Ward | |
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Born | Peter Douglas Ward May 12, 1949 Seattle, United States of America |
Nationality | American |
Known for | co-originator of the term Rare Earth[1] work on the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event[2] |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Paleontology, Biology, Astrobiology |
Peter Douglas Ward (born May 12, 1949[3]) is an American paleontologist and professor at the University of Washington, Seattle, and Sprigg Institute of Geobiology at the University of Adelaide. He has written numerous popular science works for a general audience and is also an adviser to the Microbes Mind Forum.[4] In 2000, along with his co-author Donald E. Brownlee, he co-originated the term Rare Earth[1] and developed the Medea hypothesis alleging that multicellular life is ultimately self-destructive.[5]
Origins: The term "Rare Earth" takes its name from the book Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe (2000), by Peter Ward and Donald E. Brownlee ... As the authors describe it, the Rare Earth argument comes down to two central hypotheses ... making Earth a very special place
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