Earth formed 45 billion years ago from "summary" of A Short History of Nearly Everything: Special Illustrated Edition by Bill Bryson
The Earth is very old. In fact, it is 4.5 billion years old, which is a staggeringly large number. How do we know this? Well, scientists have several methods for determining the age of the Earth, one of which is radiometric dating. This involves measuring the decay of radioactive elements in rocks, which allows scientists to calculate how long it has been since the rocks formed. By using this method, scientists have been able to determine that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old. But how did the Earth form in the first place? The prevailing theory is that it formed from a swirling cloud of dust and gas known as the solar nebula. This cloud collapsed under its own gravity, forming a spinning disk of material that eventually coalesced to form the planets in our solar system, including Earth. This process took millions of years, but eventually, the Earth emerged as a rocky planet orbiting the sun. The early Earth was a very different place from the one we know today. It was hot and violent, with frequent volcanic eruptions and meteorite impacts. Over time, the Earth cooled and an atmosphere formed, allowing life to eventually evolve. The first life forms on Earth were simple single-celled organisms that lived in the oceans, but over millions of years, life evolved into more complex forms, eventually giving rise to the diverse array of species that we see today. Understanding the history of the Earth is important because it helps us to appreciate the vastness of geological time and the incredible changes that our planet has undergone. By studying the Earth's history, scientists can learn more about the processes that shaped our planet and the conditions that allowed life to evolve. It is a fascinating journey that takes us back billions of years to a time when the Earth was just beginning to take shape.
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