Product Description

This is a book about the dramatic periods in the Earth's history called mass extinctions - short periods (by geological standards) when life nearly died out on Earth. The most famous is the mass extinction that happened about 65 million years ago, and that caused the death of the dinosaurs. But that was not the worst mass extinction: that honour goes to the extinction at the end of the Permian Period, about 250 million years ago, when over 90% of life is thought to have become extinct. What caused these catastrophes? Was it the effects of a massive meteorite impact? There is evidence for such an impact about 65 million years ago. Or was it a period of massive volcanic activity? There is evidence in the rocks of huge lava flows at periods that match several of the mass extinctions. Was it something to do with climate change and sea level? Or was it a combination of some or all of these? The question has been haunting geologists for a number of years, and it forms one of the most exciting areas of research in geology today. In this book, Tony Hallam, a distinguished geologist and writer, looks at all the different theories and also what the study of mass extinctions might tell us about the future. If climate change is a key factor, we may well, as some scientists have suggested, be in a period of mass extinction of our own making.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64338 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

New Scientist, August 14, 2004
(Review for the Hardback edition)...many fascinating personal anecdotes.

Review
Compelling book... (Maty Cartmill, TLS )

Maty Cartmill, TLS
"Compelling book..."

Customer Reviews

A Pleasant Read
As an Entomologist/Ornithologist I cannot comment on the deeper scientific authenticity of this book, what I can say is that it satisfied my requirements for interesting science reading in that it is easy to follow even with limited initial information, is well laid out and seems to have been very well researched. Hallam certainly appears focused on honestly reviewing the current research and arguements rather than pounding out his own agenda, and in presenting it in a user-friendly manner, all said I would honestly recommend this as excellent travel or evening reading for anybody with even the slightest interest in the questions addressed

A Good Bench Mark Against Bias of Further Reading
I purchased a series of books around this subject some specific and some general. I am glad that, by luck, I read this book first. It is not as entertaining as the others but gives a balanced and well written explanation of the tools and techniques used to test and reject hypothesis in these areas of research covering huge time spans. Although I am not an expert in this area I found the explanations precise and readable. It puts the other books I am now reading into perspective and allows the reader to make a reasonable judgement as to the bias being used to place one theory before another. The book does not really give any definitive conclusion other than stating how the science is used and in part extrapolated. It was just what I needed to give me a balanced view of the other materials I was researching.
examples of teh other books I am reading are as follows.The Emerald Planet: How plants changed Earth's historyFrozen Earth: The Once and Future Story of Ice AgesThe Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change and Our FutureWhen Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time