Abstract
At the beginning of XIX. century J.-B. Lamarque had introduced the term “biosphere”. In accordance with his definition the biosphere is a “scope of life” and it is an external cover for the Earth. In 1875 E. Süss, who also distinguished the biosphere as one of the Earth covers, introduced the same term in geology. But V. Vernadsky was the person who first created the modern concept of the biosphere as an active planetary cover, which does not only passively reflects its geological and geochemical environment but also transforms it. So that Lovelock (1979) has done only a next step when he has postulated that this transformation is an act of self-regulation creating optimal conditions for the biosphere existence.
When we study the History of Science we discover two mutual contrary phenomena: either behind an apparent complexity a simplicity is hidden or, on the contrary, an evident simplicity conceals within itself an extraordinary complexity. (H. Poincaré, 1894)
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Svirezhev, Y.M., Block, A., von Bloh, W. (2003). “Active Planetary Cover” Concept and Long-Term Evolution of Planetary Climate. In: Krumbein, W.E., Paterson, D.M., Zavarzin, G.A. (eds) Fossil and Recent Biofilms. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0193-8_30
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0193-8_30
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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