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The Science of Lost Worlds: Contents

The Science of Lost Worlds
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Notes

table of contents
  1. Contents
  2. List of Illustrations
  3. List of Figures
  4. List of Tables
  5. Acknowledgements
  6. 1 - Prof. Ichthy’s Inaugural Lecture
    1. 1. Awful (and Marvellous!) Changes
      1. 1.1 Prof. Ichthy Versus Professor Ichthyosaurus
      2. 1.2 The Discovery of Loss
    2. 2. Trace-Based Reasoning
    3. 3. Roadmap and Strategy
  7. 2 - The Avalonian Ediacaran: Lost, but Not Erased
    1. 1. The First Metazoans
      1. 1.1 Avalonia
      2. 1.2 Pizza Disks
      3. 1.3 The Ecologies of Avalon
    2. 2. Loss and Erasure
    3. 3. Tracecentrism and History Redux
    4. 4. The Challenge of Loss
  8. Interlude: The Parable of the Lost City
  9. 3 - Artificing
    1. 1. A Dinosaur’s Burrow
    2. 2. Modelling Rangeomorphs
    3. 3. Strategic Perspectivalism
    4. 4. Coda: De-Extinction
  10. 4 - Grafting
    1. 1. Do Dinosaurs Feel Pain?
    2. 2. Stems and Failed Experiments
    3. 3. Dickinsonia
    4. 4. Conflicting Perspectives
    5. 5. Coda: Living Fossils
  11. 5 - Anchoring
    1. 1. Ediacaran Ecology and Its Anchors
    2. 2. Epistemic Iteration
    3. 3. Bringing It All Together: How the Metazoan World Arose
    4. 4. Coda: Scientific Laws
  12. 6 - Possible Worlds
    1. 1. How Possibly: At Least Three Ways
    2. 2. Imagination Bad—Artifactualism Good
      1. 2.1 Imagination Bad
      2. 2.2 Artifactualism Good
    3. 3. The Science of Lost Worlds Is a Science of Objective Possibility
    4. 4. Astrobiology and the Actual in Service of the Possible
  13. 7 - Imagined Worlds
    1. 1. The Poverty of Imagination
    2. 2. The Palaeoartist’s Dilemma
      1. 2.1 Shrink-Wrapping: What Went Wrong?
      2. 2.2 Diversity of Representation as an Aesthetic/Epistemic Virtue
    3. 3. Artifactualist Imagination
  14. 8 - Peculiar Worlds
    1. 1. When Does History Matter?
    2. 2. Metaphysics and Science
    3. 3. The Peculiarity of History
    4. 4. From Peculiar to Dappled
  15. 9 - Unprecedented Worlds
    1. 1. Past-Derived Knowledge and the Future
    2. 2. Strategic Perspectivalism and Unprecedented Worlds
    3. 3. Records of the Future?
  16. 10 - Loss and Wonder
    1. 1. The Lost World of Kirkdale
    2. 2. Lost Worlds and Seeing Anew
  17. Bibliography
  18. Index

Contents

List of Illustrations

List of Figures

List of Tables

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1: Prof. Ichthy’s Inaugural Lecture

1. Awful (and Marvellous!) Changes

1.1 Prof. Ichthy Versus Professor Ichthyosaurus

1.2 The Discovery of Loss

2. Trace-Based Reasoning

3. Roadmap and Strategy

Chapter 2: The Avalonian Ediacaran: Lost, but Not Erased

1. The First Metazoans

1.1 Avalonia

1.2 Pizza Disks

1.3 The Ecologies of Avalon

2. Loss and Erasure

3. Tracecentrism and History Redux

4. The Challenge of Loss

Interlude: The Parable of the Lost City

Chapter 3: Artificing

1. A Dinosaur’s Burrow

2. Modelling Rangeomorphs

3. Strategic Perspectivalism

4. Coda: De-Extinction

Chapter 4: Grafting

1. Do Dinosaurs Feel Pain?

2. Stems and Failed Experiments

3. Dickinsonia

4. Conflicting Perspectives

5. Coda: Living Fossils

Chapter 5: Anchoring

1. Ediacaran Ecology and Its Anchors

2. Epistemic Iteration

3. Bringing It All Together: How the Metazoan World Arose

4. Coda: Scientific Laws

Chapter 6: Possible Worlds

1. How Possibly: At Least Three Ways

2. Imagination Bad—Artifactualism Good

2.1 Imagination Bad

2.2 Artifactualism Good

3. The Science of Lost Worlds Is a Science of Objective Possibility

4. Astrobiology and the Actual in Service of the Possible

Chapter 7: Imagined Worlds

1. The Poverty of Imagination

2. The Palaeoartist’s Dilemma

2.1 Shrink-Wrapping: What Went Wrong?

2.2 Diversity of Representation as an Aesthetic/Epistemic Virtue

3. Artifactualist Imagination

Chapter 8: Peculiar Worlds

1. When Does History Matter?

2. Metaphysics and Science

3. The Peculiarity of History

4. From Peculiar to Dappled

Chapter 9: Unprecedented Worlds

1. Past-Derived Knowledge and the Future

2. Strategic Perspectivalism and Unprecedented Worlds

3. Records of the Future?

Chapter 10: Loss and Wonder

1. The Lost World of Kirkdale

2. Lost Worlds and Seeing Anew

Bibliography

Index

Annotate

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©2026 Adrian Mitchell Currie
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