After Extinction

After Extinction

Author: Richard Grusin

Publisher: U of Minnesota Press

Published: 2018-03-20

Total Pages: 263

ISBN-13: 1452956324

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A multidisciplinary exploration of extinction and what comes next What comes after extinction? Including both prominent and unusual voices in current debates around the Anthropocene, this collection asks authors from diverse backgrounds to address this question. After Extinction looks at the future of humans and nonhumans, exploring how the scale of risk posed by extinction has changed in light of the accelerated networks of the twenty-first century. The collection considers extinction as a cultural, artistic, and media event as well as a biological one. The authors treat extinction in relation to a variety of topics, including disability, human exceptionalism, science-fiction understandings of time and posthistory, photography, the contemporary ecological crisis, the California Condor, systemic racism, Native American traditions, and capitalism. From discussions of the anticipated sixth extinction to the status of writing, theory, and philosophy after extinction, the contributions of this volume are insightful and innovative, timely and thought provoking. Contributors: Daryl Baldwin, Miami U; Claire Colebrook, Pennsylvania State U; William E. Connolly, Johns Hopkins U; Ashley Dawson, CUNY Graduate Center; Joseph Masco, U of Chicago; Nicholas Mirzoeff, New York U; Margaret Noodin, U of Wisconsin–Milwaukee; Jussi Parikka, U of Southampton; Bernard C. Perley, U of Wisconsin–Milwaukee; Cary Wolfe, Rice U; Joanna Zylinska, Goldsmiths, U of London.


Book Synopsis After Extinction by : Richard Grusin

Download or read book After Extinction written by Richard Grusin and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2018-03-20 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A multidisciplinary exploration of extinction and what comes next What comes after extinction? Including both prominent and unusual voices in current debates around the Anthropocene, this collection asks authors from diverse backgrounds to address this question. After Extinction looks at the future of humans and nonhumans, exploring how the scale of risk posed by extinction has changed in light of the accelerated networks of the twenty-first century. The collection considers extinction as a cultural, artistic, and media event as well as a biological one. The authors treat extinction in relation to a variety of topics, including disability, human exceptionalism, science-fiction understandings of time and posthistory, photography, the contemporary ecological crisis, the California Condor, systemic racism, Native American traditions, and capitalism. From discussions of the anticipated sixth extinction to the status of writing, theory, and philosophy after extinction, the contributions of this volume are insightful and innovative, timely and thought provoking. Contributors: Daryl Baldwin, Miami U; Claire Colebrook, Pennsylvania State U; William E. Connolly, Johns Hopkins U; Ashley Dawson, CUNY Graduate Center; Joseph Masco, U of Chicago; Nicholas Mirzoeff, New York U; Margaret Noodin, U of Wisconsin–Milwaukee; Jussi Parikka, U of Southampton; Bernard C. Perley, U of Wisconsin–Milwaukee; Cary Wolfe, Rice U; Joanna Zylinska, Goldsmiths, U of London.

After Extinction

After Extinction

Author: Richard A. Grusin

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781517902889

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"After Extinction looks at the future of humans and nonhumans, exploring how the scale of risk posed by extinction has changed in light of the accelerated networks of the twenty first century. Considering extinction as a cultural, artistic, media and biological event, the contributors-both prominent and unusual voices in current debates around the Anthropocene-address the question: What comes after extinction?"--Publisher description.


Book Synopsis After Extinction by : Richard A. Grusin

Download or read book After Extinction written by Richard A. Grusin and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "After Extinction looks at the future of humans and nonhumans, exploring how the scale of risk posed by extinction has changed in light of the accelerated networks of the twenty first century. Considering extinction as a cultural, artistic, media and biological event, the contributors-both prominent and unusual voices in current debates around the Anthropocene-address the question: What comes after extinction?"--Publisher description.

Animals, Plants and Afterimages

Animals, Plants and Afterimages

Author: Valérie Bienvenue

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2022-03-11

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13: 1800734263

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The sixth mass extinction or Anthropocene extinction is one of the most pervasive issues of our time. Animals, Plants and Afterimages brings together leading scholars in the humanities and life sciences to explore how extinct species are represented in art and visual culture, with a special emphasis on museums. Engaging with celebrated cases of vanished species such as the quagga and the thylacine as well as less well-known examples of animals and plants, these essays explore how representations of recent and ancient extinctions help advance scientific understanding and speak to contemporary ecological and environmental concerns.


Book Synopsis Animals, Plants and Afterimages by : Valérie Bienvenue

Download or read book Animals, Plants and Afterimages written by Valérie Bienvenue and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2022-03-11 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The sixth mass extinction or Anthropocene extinction is one of the most pervasive issues of our time. Animals, Plants and Afterimages brings together leading scholars in the humanities and life sciences to explore how extinct species are represented in art and visual culture, with a special emphasis on museums. Engaging with celebrated cases of vanished species such as the quagga and the thylacine as well as less well-known examples of animals and plants, these essays explore how representations of recent and ancient extinctions help advance scientific understanding and speak to contemporary ecological and environmental concerns.

The Sixth Extinction

The Sixth Extinction

Author: Elizabeth Kolbert

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Published: 2014-02-11

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0805099794

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR A major book about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. In The Sixth Extinction, two-time winner of the National Magazine Award and New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert draws on the work of scores of researchers in half a dozen disciplines, accompanying many of them into the field: geologists who study deep ocean cores, botanists who follow the tree line as it climbs up the Andes, marine biologists who dive off the Great Barrier Reef. She introduces us to a dozen species, some already gone, others facing extinction, including the Panamian golden frog, staghorn coral, the great auk, and the Sumatran rhino. Through these stories, Kolbert provides a moving account of the disappearances occurring all around us and traces the evolution of extinction as concept, from its first articulation by Georges Cuvier in revolutionary Paris up through the present day. The sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy; as Kolbert observes, it compels us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.


Book Synopsis The Sixth Extinction by : Elizabeth Kolbert

Download or read book The Sixth Extinction written by Elizabeth Kolbert and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2014-02-11 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR A major book about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. In The Sixth Extinction, two-time winner of the National Magazine Award and New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert draws on the work of scores of researchers in half a dozen disciplines, accompanying many of them into the field: geologists who study deep ocean cores, botanists who follow the tree line as it climbs up the Andes, marine biologists who dive off the Great Barrier Reef. She introduces us to a dozen species, some already gone, others facing extinction, including the Panamian golden frog, staghorn coral, the great auk, and the Sumatran rhino. Through these stories, Kolbert provides a moving account of the disappearances occurring all around us and traces the evolution of extinction as concept, from its first articulation by Georges Cuvier in revolutionary Paris up through the present day. The sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy; as Kolbert observes, it compels us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.

The Sixth Extinction

The Sixth Extinction

Author: Richard E. Leakey

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 1996-10-01

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0385468091

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Richard Leakey, One Of The World's Foremost Experts On Man's Evolutionary Past, Now Turns His Eye To The Future And Doesn't Like What He Sees. To the philosophical the earth is eternal, while the human race -- presumptive keeper of the world's history -- is a mere speck in the rich stream of life. It is known that nothing upon Earth is forever; geography, climate, and plant and animal life are all subject to radical change. On five occasions in the past, catastrophic natural events have caused mass extinctions on Earth. But today humans stand alone, in dubious distinction, among Earth's species: Homo Sapiens possesses the ability to destroy entire species at will, to trigger the sixth extinction in the history of life. In The Sixth Extinction, Richard Leakey and Roger Lewin consider how the grand sprawl of human life is inexorably wreaking havoc around the world. The authors of Origins and Origins Reconsidered, unimpeachable authorities on the human fossil record, turn their attention to the most uncharted anthropological territory of all: the future, and man's role in defining it. According to Leakey and Lewin, man and his surrounding species are end products of history and chance. Now, however, humans have the unique opportunity to recognize their influence on the global ecosystem, and consciously steer the outcome in order to avoid triggering an unimaginable upheaval.


Book Synopsis The Sixth Extinction by : Richard E. Leakey

Download or read book The Sixth Extinction written by Richard E. Leakey and published by Anchor. This book was released on 1996-10-01 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richard Leakey, One Of The World's Foremost Experts On Man's Evolutionary Past, Now Turns His Eye To The Future And Doesn't Like What He Sees. To the philosophical the earth is eternal, while the human race -- presumptive keeper of the world's history -- is a mere speck in the rich stream of life. It is known that nothing upon Earth is forever; geography, climate, and plant and animal life are all subject to radical change. On five occasions in the past, catastrophic natural events have caused mass extinctions on Earth. But today humans stand alone, in dubious distinction, among Earth's species: Homo Sapiens possesses the ability to destroy entire species at will, to trigger the sixth extinction in the history of life. In The Sixth Extinction, Richard Leakey and Roger Lewin consider how the grand sprawl of human life is inexorably wreaking havoc around the world. The authors of Origins and Origins Reconsidered, unimpeachable authorities on the human fossil record, turn their attention to the most uncharted anthropological territory of all: the future, and man's role in defining it. According to Leakey and Lewin, man and his surrounding species are end products of history and chance. Now, however, humans have the unique opportunity to recognize their influence on the global ecosystem, and consciously steer the outcome in order to avoid triggering an unimaginable upheaval.

Extinction

Extinction

Author: Ashley Dawson

Publisher: OR Books

Published: 2016-08-01

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 1682190412

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Some thousands of years ago, the world was home to an immense variety of large mammals. From wooly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers to giant ground sloths and armadillos the size of automobiles, these spectacular creatures roamed freely. Then human beings arrived. Devouring their way down the food chain as they spread across the planet, they began a process of voracious extinction that has continued to the present. Headlines today are made by the existential threat confronting remaining large animals such as rhinos and pandas. But the devastation summoned by humans extends to humbler realms of creatures including beetles, bats and butterflies. Researchers generally agree that the current extinction rate is nothing short of catastrophic. Currently the earth is losing about a hundred species every day. This relentless extinction, Ashley Dawson contends in a primer that combines vast scope with elegant precision, is the product of a global attack on the commons, the great trove of air, water, plants and creatures, as well as collectively created cultural forms such as language, that have been regarded traditionally as the inheritance of humanity as a whole. This attack has its genesis in the need for capital to expand relentlessly into all spheres of life. Extinction, Dawson argues, cannot be understood in isolation from a critique of our economic system. To achieve this we need to transgress the boundaries between science, environmentalism and radical politics. Extinction: A Radical History performs this task with both brio and brilliance.


Book Synopsis Extinction by : Ashley Dawson

Download or read book Extinction written by Ashley Dawson and published by OR Books. This book was released on 2016-08-01 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some thousands of years ago, the world was home to an immense variety of large mammals. From wooly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers to giant ground sloths and armadillos the size of automobiles, these spectacular creatures roamed freely. Then human beings arrived. Devouring their way down the food chain as they spread across the planet, they began a process of voracious extinction that has continued to the present. Headlines today are made by the existential threat confronting remaining large animals such as rhinos and pandas. But the devastation summoned by humans extends to humbler realms of creatures including beetles, bats and butterflies. Researchers generally agree that the current extinction rate is nothing short of catastrophic. Currently the earth is losing about a hundred species every day. This relentless extinction, Ashley Dawson contends in a primer that combines vast scope with elegant precision, is the product of a global attack on the commons, the great trove of air, water, plants and creatures, as well as collectively created cultural forms such as language, that have been regarded traditionally as the inheritance of humanity as a whole. This attack has its genesis in the need for capital to expand relentlessly into all spheres of life. Extinction, Dawson argues, cannot be understood in isolation from a critique of our economic system. To achieve this we need to transgress the boundaries between science, environmentalism and radical politics. Extinction: A Radical History performs this task with both brio and brilliance.

After On

After On

Author: Rob Reid

Publisher: Del Rey

Published: 2018-06-05

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 152479807X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The definitive novel of today’s Silicon Valley, After On flash-captures our cultural and technological moment with up-to-the-instant savvy. Matters of privacy and government intrusion, post-Tinder romance, nihilistic terrorism, artificial consciousness, synthetic biology, and much more are tackled with authority and brash playfulness by New York Times bestselling author Rob Reid. Meet Phluttr—a diabolically addictive new social network and a villainess, heroine, enemy, and/or bestie to millions. Phluttr has ingested every fact and message ever sent to, from, and about her innumerable users. Her capabilities astound her makers—and they don’t even know the tenth of it. But what’s the purpose of this stunning creation? Is it a front for something even darker and more powerful than the NSA? A bid to create a trillion-dollar market by becoming “The UberX of Sex”? Or a reckless experiment that could spawn the digital equivalent of a middle-school mean girl with enough charisma, dirt, and cunning to bend the entire planet to her will? Phluttr has it in her to become the greatest gossip, flirt, or matchmaker in history. Or she could cure cancer, bring back Seinfeld, then start a nuclear war. Whatever she does, it’s not up to us. But a motley band of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and engineers might be able to influence her. After On achieves the literary singularity—fusing speculative satire and astonishing reality into a sharp-witted, ferociously believable, IMAX-wide view of our digital age. Praise for After On “Rob Reid’s mind is like no other known thing in the universe, and this book is a truly spectacular way to discover it.”—Chris Anderson, head of TED “An extended philosophy seminar run by a dozen insane Cold War heads-of-station, three millennial COOs and that guy you went to college with who always had the best weed but never did his laundry.”—NPR “An epic cyberthriller peppered with pop-culture references, metadata, and Silicon Valley in-jokes.”—Kirkus Reviews “It’s rare to find a book that combines laugh-out-loud humor and cutting-edge science with profound philosophical speculation. This is that book.”—Analog “[Rob Reid] writes in a humorous and sarcastic style while unveiling a terrifying and frightening scenario that seems all too real.”—Associated Press


Book Synopsis After On by : Rob Reid

Download or read book After On written by Rob Reid and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2018-06-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive novel of today’s Silicon Valley, After On flash-captures our cultural and technological moment with up-to-the-instant savvy. Matters of privacy and government intrusion, post-Tinder romance, nihilistic terrorism, artificial consciousness, synthetic biology, and much more are tackled with authority and brash playfulness by New York Times bestselling author Rob Reid. Meet Phluttr—a diabolically addictive new social network and a villainess, heroine, enemy, and/or bestie to millions. Phluttr has ingested every fact and message ever sent to, from, and about her innumerable users. Her capabilities astound her makers—and they don’t even know the tenth of it. But what’s the purpose of this stunning creation? Is it a front for something even darker and more powerful than the NSA? A bid to create a trillion-dollar market by becoming “The UberX of Sex”? Or a reckless experiment that could spawn the digital equivalent of a middle-school mean girl with enough charisma, dirt, and cunning to bend the entire planet to her will? Phluttr has it in her to become the greatest gossip, flirt, or matchmaker in history. Or she could cure cancer, bring back Seinfeld, then start a nuclear war. Whatever she does, it’s not up to us. But a motley band of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and engineers might be able to influence her. After On achieves the literary singularity—fusing speculative satire and astonishing reality into a sharp-witted, ferociously believable, IMAX-wide view of our digital age. Praise for After On “Rob Reid’s mind is like no other known thing in the universe, and this book is a truly spectacular way to discover it.”—Chris Anderson, head of TED “An extended philosophy seminar run by a dozen insane Cold War heads-of-station, three millennial COOs and that guy you went to college with who always had the best weed but never did his laundry.”—NPR “An epic cyberthriller peppered with pop-culture references, metadata, and Silicon Valley in-jokes.”—Kirkus Reviews “It’s rare to find a book that combines laugh-out-loud humor and cutting-edge science with profound philosophical speculation. This is that book.”—Analog “[Rob Reid] writes in a humorous and sarcastic style while unveiling a terrifying and frightening scenario that seems all too real.”—Associated Press

Imagining Extinction

Imagining Extinction

Author: Ursula K. Heise

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2016-08-10

Total Pages: 299

ISBN-13: 022635816X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

As the extinction of species accelerates and more species become endangered, activists, filmmakers, writers, and artists have responded to bring this global crisis to the attention of the public. Until now, there has been no study of the frameworks that shape these narratives and images, or of the symbolic meanings that the death of species carries in different cultural communities. Ursula Heise makes the case that understanding how and why endangered species come to matter culturally is indispensable for any effective advocacy on their behalf. Heise begins by showing that the tools of conservation science and law need to be viewed as cultural artifacts: biodiversity databases and laws for the protection of threatened species use rhetorical and cultural resources that open up different approaches to the problem of understanding global wildlife. The second half of her book explores ways of envisioning alternative futures for biodiversity. The narrative of nature s decline or even imminent disappearance has been a successful rallying trope for those skeptical of modernization and ideologies of progress. But environmentalists nostalgia for the past and pessimistic outlook on the future have also alienated parts of the public. Heise tells the story of environmental activists, writers, and scientists who are creating new stories to guide the environmental imagination."


Book Synopsis Imagining Extinction by : Ursula K. Heise

Download or read book Imagining Extinction written by Ursula K. Heise and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-08-10 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the extinction of species accelerates and more species become endangered, activists, filmmakers, writers, and artists have responded to bring this global crisis to the attention of the public. Until now, there has been no study of the frameworks that shape these narratives and images, or of the symbolic meanings that the death of species carries in different cultural communities. Ursula Heise makes the case that understanding how and why endangered species come to matter culturally is indispensable for any effective advocacy on their behalf. Heise begins by showing that the tools of conservation science and law need to be viewed as cultural artifacts: biodiversity databases and laws for the protection of threatened species use rhetorical and cultural resources that open up different approaches to the problem of understanding global wildlife. The second half of her book explores ways of envisioning alternative futures for biodiversity. The narrative of nature s decline or even imminent disappearance has been a successful rallying trope for those skeptical of modernization and ideologies of progress. But environmentalists nostalgia for the past and pessimistic outlook on the future have also alienated parts of the public. Heise tells the story of environmental activists, writers, and scientists who are creating new stories to guide the environmental imagination."

Fear Extinction

Fear Extinction

Author: Mohammed R. Milad

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-11-16

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 3031430050

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book aims to provide the reader a neuroscientific understanding surrounding a very simple question: how do we learn not to fear? Exploring answers to this question is very important for two reasons. First, learning about the neural mechanisms of fear extinction is of relevance to everyone’s life - it is such a basic yet relevant question to our daily experiences. Therefore, understanding brain mechanisms of fear and its regulation is essential from a basic neuroscience point of view. Second, excessive fear and the inability to regulate its expression is one of the hallmarks of fear-, anxiety-, trauma-, and stressor-related psychopathologies. And as such, learning about how fear is acquired, stored, expressed, and regulated could help advance our understanding of the etiology of psychopathology, the maintenance of symptoms pertaining to failure to regulate fear, and could help us develop novel therapeutics to equip providers and patients with the tools to better quell their fears. The contributions contained in this book are provided by experts in the fields of basic and clinical neuroscience, experimental and clinical psychology, and neuropsychiatry. The contributions are organized to start the reader with basic definitions of how we define fear, how we study its neural circuits at the molecular and cellular levels, how to study human behavior and the brain using state-of-the art experimental and statistical tools, to how much fear contributes to psychopathology. This volume ends with current advances aimed to enhance the capacity to extinguish fear; a clinical result that would aid in the treatment of multiple psychiatric disorders, followed by a discussion on future directions of this highly important and relevant field.


Book Synopsis Fear Extinction by : Mohammed R. Milad

Download or read book Fear Extinction written by Mohammed R. Milad and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-11-16 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book aims to provide the reader a neuroscientific understanding surrounding a very simple question: how do we learn not to fear? Exploring answers to this question is very important for two reasons. First, learning about the neural mechanisms of fear extinction is of relevance to everyone’s life - it is such a basic yet relevant question to our daily experiences. Therefore, understanding brain mechanisms of fear and its regulation is essential from a basic neuroscience point of view. Second, excessive fear and the inability to regulate its expression is one of the hallmarks of fear-, anxiety-, trauma-, and stressor-related psychopathologies. And as such, learning about how fear is acquired, stored, expressed, and regulated could help advance our understanding of the etiology of psychopathology, the maintenance of symptoms pertaining to failure to regulate fear, and could help us develop novel therapeutics to equip providers and patients with the tools to better quell their fears. The contributions contained in this book are provided by experts in the fields of basic and clinical neuroscience, experimental and clinical psychology, and neuropsychiatry. The contributions are organized to start the reader with basic definitions of how we define fear, how we study its neural circuits at the molecular and cellular levels, how to study human behavior and the brain using state-of-the art experimental and statistical tools, to how much fear contributes to psychopathology. This volume ends with current advances aimed to enhance the capacity to extinguish fear; a clinical result that would aid in the treatment of multiple psychiatric disorders, followed by a discussion on future directions of this highly important and relevant field.

When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time (Revised edition)

When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time (Revised edition)

Author: Michael J. Benton

Publisher: Thames & Hudson

Published: 2015-08-11

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 0500773203

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“The focus is the most severe mass extinction known in earth’s history. The science on which the book is based is up-to-date, thorough, and balanced. Highly recommended.” —Choice Today it is common knowledge that the dinosaurs were wiped out by a meteorite impact 65 million years ago that killed half of all species then living. It is far less widely understood that a much greater catastrophe took place at the end of the Permian period 251 million years ago: at least ninety percent of life on earth was destroyed. When Life Nearly Died documents not only what happened during this gigantic mass extinction but also the recent renewal of the idea of catastrophism: the theory that changes in the earth’s crust were brought about suddenly in the past by phenomena that cannot be observed today. Was the end-Permian event caused by the impact of a huge meteorite or comet, or by prolonged volcanic eruption in Siberia? The evidence has been accumulating, and Michael J. Benton gives his verdict at the end of the volume. The new edition brings the study of the greatest mass extinction of all time thoroughly up-to-date. In the twelve years since the book was originally published, hundreds of geologists and paleontologists have been investigating all aspects of how life could be driven to the brink of annihilation, and especially how life recovered afterwards, providing the foundations of modern ecosystems.


Book Synopsis When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time (Revised edition) by : Michael J. Benton

Download or read book When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time (Revised edition) written by Michael J. Benton and published by Thames & Hudson. This book was released on 2015-08-11 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The focus is the most severe mass extinction known in earth’s history. The science on which the book is based is up-to-date, thorough, and balanced. Highly recommended.” —Choice Today it is common knowledge that the dinosaurs were wiped out by a meteorite impact 65 million years ago that killed half of all species then living. It is far less widely understood that a much greater catastrophe took place at the end of the Permian period 251 million years ago: at least ninety percent of life on earth was destroyed. When Life Nearly Died documents not only what happened during this gigantic mass extinction but also the recent renewal of the idea of catastrophism: the theory that changes in the earth’s crust were brought about suddenly in the past by phenomena that cannot be observed today. Was the end-Permian event caused by the impact of a huge meteorite or comet, or by prolonged volcanic eruption in Siberia? The evidence has been accumulating, and Michael J. Benton gives his verdict at the end of the volume. The new edition brings the study of the greatest mass extinction of all time thoroughly up-to-date. In the twelve years since the book was originally published, hundreds of geologists and paleontologists have been investigating all aspects of how life could be driven to the brink of annihilation, and especially how life recovered afterwards, providing the foundations of modern ecosystems.