Product Description

There have been five big mass extinctions in the history of the Earth. One 65 million years ago wiped out the dinosaurs, but the greatest of all happened around 251 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period. In this cataclysm at least 90 per cent of life was killed, both on land and in the sea, almost bringing evolution to a halt. What caused destruction on such an unimaginable scale? Was the impact of a huge meteorite, or prolonged volcanic eruption in Siberia? The evidence is assembled and Michael Benton gives his verdict. "When Life Nearly Died" does more than document this catastrophic event - it is also a history of developing ideas, explaining how we know what we know about geology and palaeontology, and laying bare the arguments and egos of scientists. Benton shows that this is not an arcane story of interest only to the scientific community - the implications of this mass extinction millions of years ago for the present-day biodiversity crisis are very relevant, so that the past can truly be a guide to the present and future life on Earth.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #459365 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

Review
'A great tale, beautifully told' - Niles Eldredge, American Museum of Natural History, author of Reinventing Darwin, Life in the Balance and Triumph of Evolution. 'Michael Benton's splendid book brings back to Earth Science a sense of adventure... It is both a wonderfully good read and a valued reference' - James Lovelock, author of Gaia and Homage to Gaia

About the Author
Michael J. Benton is Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Head of Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol. Among his most recent books are Vertebrate Palacontology, Basic Palaeontology and The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia (editor).

Customer Reviews

Catastrophies happen
I read this while studying for my Geology exams - perhaps not the best study technique, but certainly more entertaining than the textbooks. Michael Benton presents an interesting topic in a way which is very accessible without becoming simplistic or patronising and brings the geology alive.
An earlier reviewer comments that the first few chapters are more general and not directly related to the end-Permian extinction which is the main topic of the book. That's a fair comment, but those chapters also set the scene for the reader who is not familiar with the progress of geological thought, and the real significance of the realisation that catastrophism does indeed have its place in the way we think about the history of the Earth.
In the mid-nineteenth century, and until the late twentieth, it was believed that geological processess were generally gradual, and that processes observed today could be used to explain geological events in the past. This came out of a rejection of biblical ideas of creation and floods, and was a good way to explain many geological phenomena. But occasionally, very major and unusual events do occur and geologists have perhaps struggled to accept the evidence before them because of these deep-seated beliefs.
From the discovery of plate tectonics in the sixties, through the understanding of mass extinctions in the eighties and nineties, the science has been turned on its head within my own lifetime. Its a fabulous time to being studying geology, and books like this which bring it to a general audience are to be applauded.

When Life Nearly Died by Michael Benton
When one thinks about mass extinctions, the Cretaceous-Tertiary event clearly comes to mind. A mass of literature and media-hype ensures that everyone is well acquainted with the demise of the dinosaurs that resulted from a large asteroid impact, often visualised in many a book or television programme by a rather surprised Tyrannosaurus or shocked Triceratops being swept away by either a massive shockwave or tsunami.

Subsequently, it is refreshing and reassuring to actually find a piece of text actually concerned with a mass extinction that appears to have had the most decimating effect on metazoan life ever detailed in the Phanerozoic, the Permo-Triassic extinction. Well it’s about time, but why the wait?

Benton addresses this reason adequately from the start of the book, giving a clear account of how generations of earth scientists have been shoe-horned into adapting a prose of thinking instigated by Charles Lyell. This involved believing that there has always been a regular consistency in the history of the Earth, that no processes can be involved that are not immediately observable on a day to day basis, i.e. ‘the present is the key to the past’. To suggest mass-extinctions, momentous periods of volcanic activity and occasional asteroid impacts would result in being allocated to the ‘crackpot wing’. Therefore, the acceptance that mass-extinctions have occurred is a very recent acceptance in the field of Earth Sciences, none more so that the Permo-Triassic extinction.

As a geology student, I was always taught the transition in faunas and floras over the Permo-Triassic boundary was a long, gradual affair, caused by the simple event of the cohesion of continents to form Pangaea, resulting in a significant loss in habitat and mass extinction in the marine environment. Simple as that. On land? That was a certain ‘grey area’, to say the least.

Appreciatively, this issue is resolved at long last. This book brings together a compendium of valid, relevant information. This includes analytical studies of exposed stratigraphy across the Permo-Triassic boundary in China, Greenland and Russia that has given a wonderful opportunity to analyse the concurrent sedimentology and evident palaeontology. Also involved is a wide range of intricate isotope and radiometric work. The result is fascinating. Something truly devastating did actually occur approximately 251 million years ago and like a classic case of bad luck it appears to have happened three times concurrently.

I thoroughly recommend this book to any individual who may have an interest in the Earth Sciences, whether layman or academic. The text is smooth and reads well, Benton clearly has the ability to transfer information in a clear and concise fashion that ultimately proves to be addictive reading. I consider this book to be a benchmark in Earth Sciences literature in that it acts as an effective summary at this present moment in time (at going to press!) on what is actually known about the Permo-Triassic extinction. It’s a great piece of work and it’s a joy to read.

A fabulous flatulence!
The public is being subjected to a litany of accounts of how life can, and has been, eliminated en masse. After learning ice ages may have swept away numerous creatures, we discovered dinosaurs may have been wiped out by the Big Rock. While trying to comprehend the amount of life an asteroid can dispose of, Michael Benton demonstrates the numbers pale in comparison to what a Big Burp can achieve. Combining his own field work with the research from numerous others, Benton skilfully builds a scenario of real mass destruction. His fine prose style keeps this book a compelling read throughout.

Sharply criticising Darwin's contemporaries and successors for clinging too resolutely to the notion that Nature's forces merely creep along, Benton notes the persistence of one theme. The "uniformitarians", he says, blinded scholars to the evidence - evidence that suggested life could end suddenly. Charles Lyell, one of Charles Darwin's inspirations, argued that what is seen today typifies the entire, and lengthy, history of our world. Slow, gradual change on today's surface is but the most recent example of the panorama of millions of years. Sudden change, "catastrophism", promoted by Baron Cuvier in France, was false. In life, Darwin's evolution by natural selection reflected the gradualist theme.

Benton dismisses Lyell and his adherents as overcommitted to gradualism. He contends they shut their eyes to contrary evidence. He admits the data was less than readily apparent, but argues some questions should have been raised long before now. New research, sometimes in places already once observed, finally brought reassessment. The Ural Mountains in Russia offered the first clues. Roderick Murchison toured there in the 1840s, naming the "Permian System" of rocks. Wars and revolutions interrupted the surveys and geologists and paleontologists peered at new ground. The Great Karoo of South Africa, China and other sites provided new information. A gradually emerging picture revealed a massive die-off 251 million years ago. What had happened?

After a long introduction of chapters recounting the researchers and their findings around the planet, Benton dismisses the notion of a bolide impact. This idea, fostered by the discovery that the Dinosaur Era had likely been concluded by the impact of a 10 kilometre asteroid, wasn't matched by the evidence. While the Permian Extinction may have been accompanied by darkened skies and deluges of rain, the real killer was something else. The dinosaur extinction wasn't typified by massive intrusions of poisonous gases, but the Permian was another matter. Benton surmises that 251 million years ago a series of volcanic fissures spewed immense waves of lava over the land near the North Pole. This area, now known as Siberia, is still covered by the remnants of the outburst. With the lava came noxious gas, mostly carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. These "greenhouse" gases warmed the seas, releasing life-killing methane. The catastrophe may have killed off up to 96% of all living things.

This is not simply an arcane analysis of events in the ancient past. It's a book that should gain a wide readership, since the events of all those millions of years ago have implications for today. Benton notes the sediments at the bottom of our seas contain a build-up of methane equalling or exceeding that of the Permian. Today's human-spurred global warming may be leading to the same scenario. Extinction, Benton reminds us, isn't limited to dinosaurs or other ancient life. It is clear that we must learn how these mechanisms work to make rational decisions about our dealings with the biosphere. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]