Evolutionary Catastrophes: The Science of Mass Extinction

Book Description

Why did the dinosaurs and two-thirds of all living species vanish from the face of the Earth sixty-five million years ago? Throughout the history of life a small number of catastrophic events have caused mass extinction, and changed the path of evolution forever. Two main theories have emerged to account for these dramatic events: asteroid impact, and massive volcanic eruptions, both leading to nuclear-like winter. In recent years, the impact hypothesis has gained precedence, but Vincent Courtillot suggests that cataclysmic volcanic activity can be linked not only to the K-T mass extinction, but to most of the main mass extinction events in the history of the Earth. Courtillot's book debunks some of the myths surrounding one of the most controversial arguments in science. This story will fascinate everyone interested in the history of life and death on our planet.

Customer Reviews:

The Impact of Catastrophes on Evolution.......2007-02-27

Vincent Courtillot graduated from the Paris School of Mines, Stanford University, and the University of Paris where he is a Professor of Geophysics. Courtillot studied the earth's magnetic fields, plate tectonics, magnetic reversals, and flood basalts. He published 150 papers in professional journals, and held many official jobs (p.i). The dinosaurs and most living species became extinct about 65 million years ago. Catastrophic events have cause mass extinction and affected evolution. There are two theories for this: asteroid impact, or massive volcanic eruptions, to cause extremely cold weather from a lack of sunlight. Courtillot suggests volcanic eruption caused most mass extinctions. The `Preface' notes that most species are extinct, and there were times when this was rapid along with the appearance of new species. The fossil records gave the answer. Geochemists and geophysicists sampled and analyzed the surviving records of metals and minerals. "Deciphering past catastrophes may perhaps be the only way of predicting the future effects of human activity on this planet's climate" (p.ix).

Chapter 1 discusses mass extinction. There are a few "living fossils", but most species have a limited span of existence ranging from a few hundred thousand years to several million years (p.9). The Milankovic cycle cause variations in climate. Generally the larger or more specialized animals vanished, while the smaller or more generalized animals survived (p.16). Chapter 2 discusses an asteroid impact that led to a "nuclear winter" and the extinction of many species, such as dinosaurs (p.25). Magnetic anomalies in oceanic crusts suggest reversals in earth's magnetism over millions of years (p.54). The formation of the traps was about the same time when dinosaurs disappeared, hence the volcanist theory (p.56).

Chapter 4 explains the effects of volcanic eruptions, such as in 1783 Iceland. The destruction of vegetation and cattle led to the greatest famine; a quarter of the population died (p.61). The sulfur content determines the climactic impact (p.62). Volcanism may explain the levels of arsenic, antimony, and selenium (p.67). Volcanic gases can explain the extinction of species 65 million years ago (p.72). The greatest mass extinction occurred at the end of the Paleozoic Era (p.88). Chapter 8 tells about the Chicxulub crater that was created by a giant asteroid and discovered by oil exploration. Courtillot explains why this wouldn't cause magnetic reversal (p.130). Attempts at scientific research often tell about the researchers as much as about the object of inquiry (Chapter 9). The example is the explanation for the disappearance of the dinosaurs: asteroid or volcanoes. The story of an asteroid impact seems more believable than centuries of volcanic eruptions (p.139). Eruptions coincide with seven mass extinctions (p.141).

Chapter 10 says the gases of volcanism were sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen chloride. Human activity is now producing these same gases at the same or higher rates (p.144). Ancient catastrophes should be studied for their knowledge and to prevent another extinction. Most species have eventually died out (p.146). Only 11,000 years ago two-thirds of the large mammals in the Americas disappeared suddenly (p.147). Most species leave no fossils behind. Two catastrophe theories are popular today. An asteroid or comet hit the earth, or, there were colossal eruptions of volcanoes (p.149). Catastrophes wiped out species that had been the fittest to survive (p.154). Courtillot mentions the scientific revolution of plate tectonics (continental drift) which upset the earlier notions of an unchanging earth (p.155). What new secrets will be discovered (p.156)? [The average reader may find this hardcover book difficult.]

Controversial re-examination of geology's hottest topic.......2005-09-09

____________________________________________
We all know that a BIG meteor hit the Gulf of Mexico at the end of the
Cretaceous and wiped out the dinosaurs, right? So, big meteor-strikes
probably caused the other mass-extinctions too?

Well -- the Chicxulub impact at the KT boundary, 65 my ago, is indeed
well-documented. What's less well-known is that the Deccan Traps,
an enormous outpouring of flood-basalts in what is now western
India -- over 2 million cubic km(!) of lava, along with billions of
tons of SO2, CO2, HCl, and other toxics -- were also in full eruption
then. In fact, the famous KT iridium-signature has recently been
identified in Deccan interflow sediments [note 1]. From recent
radiometric dating, it looks like all of the Deccan eruptions occurred
within a brief, 0.7 my time-span. The biggest and most violent
eruptions apparently occurred within a few thousand years of the KT
boundary; individual flows of several thousand cubic kilometers of
basalt were not uncommon.

Compare this to the largest historic 'flood'-basalt eruption: Laki in
Iceland produced 12 cu. km of lava in 1783-84. The SO2 and other gases
that Laki released, destroyed most of the island's crops and forage.
Then 50-80% of the island's livestock, and about 1/4 of the Icelandic
people, starved to death. Laki lowered global temperatures by about
1 deg. C (from fine-particle ash & sulfur aerosols).

Extrapolating to a 5,000 cu. km flood-basalt eruption, the average
global temperature might decrease by around 7 deg. C (13 deg. F). The
volcanic HCl emissions could destroy most of the ozone layer [note 2],
dramatically increasing UV at the surface, and injuring or killing
many organisms. The familiar volcanogenic "toxics" -- F, As, Sb, Hg, Se
etc. -- would poison nearby life. And the volcanic SO2 & HCl would
cause severe acid-rain damage as they were washed out of the
atmosphere. Then, repeat this disaster with the next big eruption, over
& over again, a dozen or more times in the next 10,000 years or so. The
total 'kill factor' would very likely be greater than that from the
Chicxulub impact, albeit spread out over tens or hundreds of
thousands of years. And a more gradual die-off is (usually) a better
fit to the known fossil record.

So it turns out that the volcanists and the meteor-strike proponents
were *both* right, at least for the KT mass-extinction. The
combination of the Chicxulub strike with the Deccan mega-eruption
turned an 'ordinary' mass-extinction into the second-worst ever.
And thoroughly muddied the scientific waters while this was being
worked out. Once again, reality trumps fiction -- Nemesis atop Shiva!

But, for the 10 or so "big" mass-extinctions known [note 3], *seven*
are of the same age as major flood-basalt eruptions, vs. one or two
with major same-age impacts. And those two meteor-strikes coincide
with massive flood-basalt eruptions -- *no* major mass-extinctions
appear to be solely impact-caused. So it's fair to say that flood-basalts
are more deadly to Earthly life than meteor-strikes. And a hazard not
amenable to any engineering solution that I know of -- except being
ready to move off the planet, when the next new hot-spot head nears
breakout. Which will come, sure as death [note 4]. An unpleasant
reminder of our fragility.

Mea culpa: I'd pretty much taken the "KT impact killed off the dinos"
theory as proven -- I didn't even bother to read the last volcanist
counter-argument I saw. As Courtillot notes, I'm hardly the only one
to do so. Hey, those guys are the old fuddy-duddies, right? The
'stamp-collectors', Luis Alvarez called them. Hence this review, a
'heads-up' to others, and an expiation for me.

_Evolutionary Catastrophes_ is clearly written and is (mostly)
accessible to the general reader [note 5]. This is the latest chapter in the
gradualist vs. catastrophist dialog that is as old as geologic science.
Writing with great good humor, skepticism, and a love for a scientific
tale well-told, Courtillot goes a long way towards redressing the
balance in the hottest earth-science argument at the turn of the 21st
century. Highly recommended.
_______________
Note 1) Courtillot relates a cute story of the serendipities of field work:
a paleontology student had worked for years in one of these basins,
with little sucess. A visiting paleontologist, answering nature's call,
washed out a fine freshwater ray tooth, of a species previously known
only from Niger, "under the very eyes of the unhappy student."

2) If the eruption is powerful enough to inject HCl into the
stratosphere. Historic basalt eruptions haven't done so, but we're
talking eruptions 500 times larger than any ever seen....

3) Various authors propose from 5 to about 20 "major" mass-
extinction events. There seems (to this non-specialist) to be a rough
consensus for the "Big 5": [see SF Site review for link]

4) Though, sadly, not so predictable. Hot-spot flareups appear to be a
deep-seated core-cooling mechanism, with an unknown, but random,
trigger. Average time between breakouts seems to be around 30 my,
but the events are far from regularly-spaced. We really don't know
very much about what goes on at the Earth's core.

5) Minor caveats: Courtillot goes a bit overboard at times in
arguing for vulcanism and against impact. Nor does he pay quite
enough attention to the probable multiple causes of major mass-
extinctions. Some of the citations are incomplete, there's no
bibliography, and the index is pretty sketchy.

Peter D. Tillman
Consulting Geologist, Tucson & Santa Fe (USA)
Review first appeared in the Arizona Geological Society newsletter, and reprinted at SF Site, April 2000. G00gle there for links.

important information about geology and exciting.......2000-09-04

This kind of analysis and extrapolation adds a great deal of information for the layman who is willing to follow the discus- sion about geology and has background such as the Mcphee books, seismic theories of interior earth movements and plate tectonics. Because it is written by a French Scientist I feel it may not be given the attention it might if written by an American. It is slow going in the beginning because he explains the Alvarez discoveries and theories in more detail than I had previously had. When he gets to the discussion of the great volcanic events that created the huge lava plateaus such as the one in the Grand Coullee in Washington State, it gets very exciting because he gives a great deal of information that is new to me. This infor- mation brings a whole new dimension to plate techtonics, hot spots and possible extinctions. A great adventure in time.

Evolutionary Catastrophies........2000-04-11

Probably no single mass extinction of the five known to have occurred has captured popular notice so thoroughly as has the KT event. Ideas about what might have caused this disaster, which may have brought about the end of the dinosaurs, abound and range from change in the oxygen content of the atmosphere to astroid impacts. Mr. Courtillot, a French investigator of the Deccan Traps in India and China, has been the leading proponent of the volcanic-climatic disaster motif. In this book he defends his hypothesis, primarily against its leading opponent the Alvarez' astroidal impact theory, and believes that the evidence from the field more completely supports his theory of the cause of extinctions, not only at the KT boundary but through most of life's history. The volume is somewhat less readable than the Alvarez book (see T. Rex and the Crater of Doom or the review of it under my name), because it contains more technical information. The author defines many of his terms for the lay reader, but the discussion is definitely more understandable for the reader with some knowledge of geology in his/her background.

The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions

Average customer rating:

An Excellent, Well-Written Thesis
Informative and Entertaining
The End of the Dinosaurs
Great Little Book
End of the Dinosaurs.

The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions
Charles Frankel
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0521474477

Book Description

The discovery of the giant Chicxulub impact crater, buried off the coast of Mexico, unveiled the solution to one of Earth's greatest mysteries--what killed the dinosaurs. Scientists uncovered physical evidence to explain the mass extinction that rocked the Earth 65 million years ago. Step-by-step, The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions tells this great scientific detective story. Charles Frankel recounts the birth of the cosmic hypothesis, which holds that the crash of a meteor on the Earth's surface killed two-thirds of life and all the dinosaurs. He first provides a dramatic account of the impact and its aftermath. Frankel then goes on to detail the controversy that preceded the acceptance of the cosmic hypothesis, the search for the crater, its discovery and ongoing exploration, and the effect of the giant impact on the biosphere. In addition, he reviews other mass extinctions in the fossil record and the threat of asteroids and comets to our planet today. More than 70 photographs and diagrams enhance and help illustrate the material. Filled with drama and interesting science, The End of the Dinosaurs will readily appeal to both the general reader fascinated with the subject and the specialist always searching for more clues to this great mystery. Charles Frankel has written a number of articles on the earth sciences in books and magazines. His many books include Volcanoes of the Solar System (Cambridge University Press 1996).

Customer Reviews:

An Excellent, Well-Written Thesis.......2007-07-11

Charles Frankel's book "The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions" is a well-written, thoroughly researched thesis on the theory of a meteor impact that resulted in the mass extinctions of dinosaurs and other species 65 million years ago.

The author requires no prior knowledge of geology, astronomy, archeology, or paleontology. Instead, he carefully outlines all of the accumulated scientific evidence from these fields of science and presents a convincing argument in support of the impact theory as the cause of the mass extinctions documented in the fossil record. He also presents opposing theories and his arguments against them. The book is nicely illustrated with interesting photographs that supplement the salient points of each chapter.

The book is an easy read, especially for a scientific thesis, and is constructed concisely and intuitively, without the repetitiveness often suffered in similar non-fiction works. I enjoyed reading it on vacation in the Caribbean where I was delighted to be able to spot, in some exposed cliffs, the K-T geologic boundary the author describes so well!

I later shared the book with my 14 year old son, who used the book as his primary resource for a school paper on the subject of an important historical event. My son also found the book to be fascinating, lucid, and eminently readable.

I highly recommend this outstanding work of non-fiction.

Informative and Entertaining.......2005-05-23

This book is an entertaining and informative explanation of how scientists posed the theory that an asteriod had caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous, found evidence that supported the theory, searched for the crater, and eventually linked the Chicxulub Crater in the Yucatan Peninsula to the extinctions.

This book is also a wonderful illustration of how the scientific process works, what scientific controversy looks like, and how people from many different scientific disciplines can work together to advance knowledge. The author provides enough background information for the lay reader to understand the basic situation, but not so much that the reader gets bogged down in details. With a publication date of 1999, it is perhaps a bit dated, but it is well worth reading.

The End of the Dinosaurs.......2002-11-23

The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions written by Charles Frankel is an account of the hunt for, finding, and the theory and controversy assoicited with the great mass extinction that rocked the Earth 65 million years ago.

This book encompasses some great detective work and recounts the birth of the cosmic hypothesis that the effects of a giant impact created on the eart's biosphere led to the exticntion of one very successful life forms on earth... dinosauria.

The descriptions of the crater geology is in terms that the layperson can understand and comprehend. This is ment to pique your interest into Earth sciences and there is and index and bibliography for further study if warrented.

What I found to be the greatest asset in reading this book is the detective work involve in finding the impact area on earth that coinsided with the correct time frame to prove that the impact of an extraterresstial source was one of the contributing factors that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.

There are photos within this book that show impacts throughout the earth, but the only one that can be linked to 65 millions years ago is Chicxulub in the Northern edge of the Yucatan in Mexico. It amazes me how the geologists work and came up with this site. Iridium was only one of the clues that the geologists used to track down the date of tthe impact, but closer to the impact site there were other telltale signs.

Around the Gulf of Mexico, unusual outcrops are found at the K-T boundary. K-T stands for Late Cretaceous-Tertiary begining. In El Penon, Mexico, a thick sandstone unit is interpreted to be a catastrophic tsunami deposit, laid down by the impact. Where it is capped by a fine clay displaying a wavy pattern, thought to mark the oscilation of the current as the tsunami wave sloshed back and forth across the continental platform. When you take a cross-section of the clay you can really see the the ripple marks, making testament to the current switching directions.

From Mexico, to Haiti and around the Gulf of Mexico you see this clay layer and sandstone around the K-T boundary denoting an impact, but what really piqued my interest here was the fine of the ejecta known as spherules and tektites. Tektites are spashes of the impact melt that take on aerodynamic shapes as they spin through the Earth's atmosphere.

On a different note... why are comet more dangerous to Earth than asteroid... because of the sublimation of the ices heated by sunlight. The jets of gas act as reactors and constantly modify the comet's trajectory. Thus, making comets less predictable than asteroids.

This book takes the reader on a journey into Earth Science and shows us what can happen... fascinating what asteroids, meteorites, bolides and comets can do to the rich complexity of the biosphere, not only then, but today as well.

Great Little Book.......2002-05-27

This great little book is far more than promised by the title -- although I must admit that I grabbed it because of the title, so I can hardly fault them for picking something dinosaur oriented.

Yes, we get a history of the scientific controversies leading to the widespread acceptance of a meteorite/comet strike as the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs. But there's more: the book reviews the evidence for associations between bolide strikes and all of the major mass extinctions in earth history. In prose that's clear, but not dry, Frankel reveals what we know -- and don't know -- about these events. Good illustrations and intelligent speculation round out a first-rate and quite up-to-date overview of a rapidly developing field.

One subtext of Frankel's work is how scientist adapt (and in some cases don't adapt) to new evidence. For example, the Siberian Tunguska explosion of 1908 is now widely acknowledged to have been a strike from a comet fragment, but only 20 or so years ago you could read about it primarily in UFO magazines and "mysteries of the unexplained" books. Because science lacked an explanation for it, the explosion was largely ignored.

I second the recommendation of "The Eternal Frontier."

End of the Dinosaurs........2000-04-11

So many theories of the KT extinctions have been forwarded by scientist and lay person alike that it is almost refreshing to have it come down to the confrontation between two, or a few, major theories, in this case the "impactist" and "volcanist" theories. Frankel does a fine job of presenting a balanced and fair account of the contenting theories, particularly Courtillot's Deccan Traps volcanism (for which see Evolutionary Catastrophies or my review of it) and their supporting data. He is, however, thoroughly in the impactist camp. He gives an excellent description of the astroid and of how scientists were able to work out its size, the size of its crater, and its subsequent atmospheric and environmental effects. This is probably the best of the three books (T. Rex and the Crater of Doom, Evolutionary Catastrophies, and End of the Dinosaurs) I've recently read on the subject, although all three are worth reading.

Average customer rating:

Fabulous
Fascinating
Mr. Rex and his pointless facility
This subject isn't written in stone - yet
This is the one that started it all...

T. rex and the Crater of Doom
Walter Alvarez
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0691016305

Amazon.com

One of the great mysteries is what happened to the dinosaurs, and it has taken great detective work to give us an answer. In T. Rex and the Crater of Doom, some brilliant, not to mention determined, scientists roam the world and seek out the clues. What they conclude is that the earth withstood a colossal impact with a meteor (or perhaps a comet) 65 million years ago. The resulting cataclysm destroyed half the life on the planet.

Walter Alvarez, a geologist at the University of California at Berkeley, and one of the four scientists who present this theory on the mystery, tells the story in a clear narrative that contains a wealth of scientific material. The book does require an investment of attention, but the presentation is quite readable, and the story itself is fascinating.

Book Description

Sixty-five million years ago, a comet or asteroid larger than Mt. Everest slammed into the Earth, causing an explosion equivalent to the detonation of a hundred million hydrogen bombs. Vaporized impactor and debris from the impact site were blasted out through the atmosphere, falling back to Earth all around the globe. Terrible environmental disasters ensued, including a giant tsunami, continent-scale wildfires, darkness, and cold, followed by sweltering greenhouse heat. When conditions returned to normal, half the genera of plants and animals on Earth had perished.

This horrific story is now widely accepted as the solution to a great scientific murder mystery what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs? In T. rex and the Crater of Doom, the story of the scientific detective work that went into solving the mystery is told by geologist Walter Alvarez, one of the four Berkeley scientists who discovered the first evidence for the giant impact. It is a saga of high adventure in remote parts of the world, of patient data collection, of lonely intellectual struggle, of long periods of frustration ended by sudden breakthroughs, of intense public debate, of friendships made or lost, of the exhilaration of discovery, and of delight as a fascinating story unfolded.

Controversial and widely attacked during the 1980s, the impact theory received confirmation from the discovery of the giant impact crater it predicted, buried deep beneath younger strata at the north coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. The Chicxulub Crater was found by Mexican geologists in 1950 but remained almost unknown to scientists elsewhere until 1991, when it was recognized as the largest impact crater on this planet, dating precisely from the time of the great extinction sixty-five million years ago. Geology and paleontology, sciences that long held that all changes in Earth history have been calm and gradual, have now been forced to recognize the critical role played by rare but devastating catastrophes like the impact that killed the dinosaurs.

Customer Reviews:

Fabulous.......2007-05-03

Don't know what else to say. If you like geology, science, natural history, dinosaurs,... any of the above? Read it!

Fascinating.......2006-08-25

Great account of the evolution of the meteor impact theory of mass extinction. He provides a detailed account of the scientific processes involved in the discovery of the Chixulub crater and its relation to the end of the Cretaceous period. As a scientist in another field, I found it to be very informative for the lay reader (non-paleontologist/geologist, etc.).

Mr. Rex and his pointless facility.......2006-06-10

So, our temporarily old Mr. Rex sees that a book consisting entirely of combat will show you a hill that floats! Not since 1937. "In such a long time, he thinks that it really develops in circumference, which is all it will ever be." So he says, anyway. Sadly, this stuff used to be quite numerous in the market and he (the author) was different from what he says he is today, when the book is no longer being sold. How sad. This dog will cry and cry as you try to head off the exposure of this author who is far more different than you can imagine. Let him prove the contents of his own book and then let's see him leave some petal larger than itself, and maybe in some interview with temporary old Mr. Rex and his floating hill, we will see that it is time to increase the form of our philosophy, which might eventually rehabilitate objective analysis. Yes, sure, that will be the day! Then how come nobody thought to be careful in their principal object, which might be found at the very end of the book. You, along with "old" Mr. Rex, will discover this book to be indispensible if you care about profit and loss, like the author(s). Like his hill, he floats under the thought, not over it, and when he wants the growth, he extends himself laterally.

To read this book cover to cover is to be astonished about rumors of its re-publication. But, to date, the remainder piles burst any hope of a revision. The sly old dog inside the bookshop actually hopes that BallentineBooks will try to publish each one, page by page, as a "real" book made up of 256 versions of the same small page. Your risk of testing your confidence in it is minimal. As a reading device, it compares well with Dick and Jane books in terms of profit and loss or some other pointless facility. At one point he even compares gold and the chart, together. This is what he calls "being rehabilitated," and it modifies the entire thing. The critics spoke about the fact that he defends his track record as some kind of "interior research", when in fact it is a plain old criminal record, the risks of which we will all have to carry together. If he wishes to make his company legitimate, maybe this book can be in a company of one.

This subject isn't written in stone - yet .......2006-04-25

I started reading Vincent Courtillot's Evolutionary Catastrophes (volcanism) first in order to gain a handle on the mass extinction argument and found that this book challenges Walter Alvarez's book T. Rex And The Crater of Doom (comet or asteroid bombardment). Therefore, I started reading that at the same time; which got me to pull out and start skimming David Levy's Impact Jupiter (comet expert). In the meantime, I thought it prudent to start reading The Behavior of the Earth by Claude Allegre (plate tectonics), and picked up Steven Stanley's book Extinction (global climate change). Recently I saw via a Google search that Linda Elkins-Tanton now thinks that perhaps meteorite bombardment could have allowed hot magma to vent thus causing global climate change and hence the mass extinctions. This is fun!

This is the one that started it all..........2005-12-01

This is the book that started it all: Dinosaur extinction by bolide from outer space. Catastrophic tsunamis. Intercontinental ejecta layer. Geologic evidence everywhere you look once you know where to look. And the laughingstock of serious geologists everywhere until the evidence started mounting up to where it couldn't be ignored.

This is the story of Walter Alvarez and his colleagues and their careful science that yielded ideas, insights, and then, whammo! the Big Idea that there might be an external component to the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. It is a forensic mystery worthy of "CSI" except this is the real deal, and the slog work of doing research took this band of scientists all over the world in search of enlightenment. Leveraging new developments in dating techniques and the best minds in the field and out of it (did I mention that Walter Alvarez is the son of Luis Alvarez, the Nobel Award winner for physics?), the adventure is somewhat stalled until the discovery of oil company drilling cores from the Chixulub region of Mexico that confirm evidence of an impact in that region. It is an eleventh-hour discovery just as interest is waning and funding is running out - a development worthy of the "Nova" episode that it eventually became.

As much fun as it is to read mysteries, it is equally fun to read about the real-life trials and tribulations of a band of intrepid individuals who have a hypothesis and then are able to methodically test it, with startling results. One of the joys of this book is Alvarez's generosity toward those whose work supported him and propelled him forward, as well as his occasional head-scratching humility. This really isn't a vanity piece but it is a definite good read.

Night Comes to the Cretaceous: Comets, Craters, Controversy, and the Last Days of the Dinosaurs

Average customer rating:

Lack of objectivity. An embarassingly one-sided shill.
A very clear account, but of questionable objectivity....
A great description of science from the inside
Night Comes to the Cretaceous
How Scientific Revolutions Actually Happen

Night Comes to the Cretaceous: Comets, Craters, Controversy, and the Last Days of the Dinosaurs
James Lawrence Powell
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0156007037

Book Description

What killed the dinosaurs? For more than a century, this question has been one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in science. But, in 1980, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Luis Alvarez and his son, Walter, proposed a radical answer: 65 million years ago an asteroid or comet as big as Mt. Everest slammed into the earth, raising a dust cloud vast enough to cause mass extinction. A revolutionary idea that challenged the ice-age extinction theory, the asteroid-impact theory was scorned and derided by the science community. But after years of bitter debate and intense research, an astonishing discovery was made-an immense impact crater in the Yucatán Peninsula that was identified as Ground Zero. The Alvarezes had their proof. A dramatic scientific detective story, Night Comes to the Cretaceous is a brilliant example of science at work-in the trenches, complete with passionate struggles and occasional victories.

Customer Reviews:

Lack of objectivity. An embarassingly one-sided shill........2005-03-11

I was hoping for a balanced analysis supporting the dinosaur extinctions via an asteroid doing a number on mother earth. Instead I got a steady dose of denunciations towards anyone who disagreed with the asteroid theory. The tone is palatable at first but after a while repeating the same canard over and over does tend to get tiresome. Around page 170 or so I realized that I was reading an apologist for the asteroid theory.

I was very disappointed that other theories were given short shrift and at times almost mocked. This is a so so book about dinosaur extinctions but I am waiting for a truly meaty and balanced book.

A very clear account, but of questionable objectivity...........2005-02-08

I did't find this book to be a particularly good review of the dinosaurs-vs-meteorite controversy. The narrative is clear and captivating, and accounts of the several open (or closed!) disputes, rooted in disparate fields of Earth sciences, is made accessible to the layreader or those with just a modest background in natural sciences. Nevertheless, Powell holds a one-sided approach right from the beginning, pointlessly crusading against some supposedly general backward attitude in geologists and paleontologists that actually never was there, except for a very few unfortunate cases. Everyone now agrees on evidence for a massive extraterrestrial impact dated around 65 million years ago, but the main issue is presently whether that was the ultimate cause of the mass extinction or other earth-bound factors and feedbacks played a role in driving interactions between physical environment and the biosphere toward a mass extinction. Powell leaves no room for such developments.
In particular, I'd have two specific objections to specific cases presented in the book: 1)On pages 172-174 taxonomic analysis of dinosaur diversity in the highest stratigraphic stages of the Cretaceous in Montana is reported as evidence in favour of a sudden crisis of the original ecosystem. Pete Sheehan and co-workers carried on their studies at the taxonomic rank of families, which resulted numerically stable with time approaching the K-T boundary. Only, John Horner recently reviewed their work at a species level, likely to be statistically and biologically more reliable indicator of biodiversity, and found out a steady decrease of dinosaur types through time. Such reconsideration of Sheehan's research thus reverses evidence against the impact hypothesis! 2) The section "Did impact cause all extinctions?" introduces the final part of the book which has absolutely nothing to do with the K-T event per se, and presents us with Raup's "impact-kill curve" which was originally just an interesting exercise in statistics, but lacking a solid connection with the actual geo-paleontological database of major mass extinctions (let alone minor ones..) and thus oversimplifies the subject. Yet the author all too enthousiastically takes sides with the "impactors" and loses objectivity, even falling in contradiction (Page 192:"Not enough firm evidence is available to corroborate the claim that impact is responsible for any other mass extinction boundary than the K-T event..." Page 196:"..how are we to escape the conclusion that not just in theory, but in practice, impact has caused many extinctions?")
More poignantly however, scientific arguments and debates against the "impact hypothesis" haven't been introduced thoroughly enough but too quickly glossed over, although numerous in the recent scientific literature...
Without deceiving myself of having read a downright objective account, I'm afraid this is the best available book about the (still ongoing...) debate, together with J.D.Archibald's "Dinosaur Extinction and the End of an Era: What the Fossils Say", which is possibly far more objective though...

A great description of science from the inside.......2004-08-07

This is one of the best science books I have ever read, and a great description of how science works from the inside. Scientists aren't impartial godlike figures, they're human beings just like the rest of us.This book details how a geologist, by bringing his father an interesting rock--a polished specimen that included the K-T boundary layer, deposited when the dinosaurs all vanished--started a controversy that revolutionized and redefined the entire field of earth sciences. Personally, I love it when that happens, that's how science is supposed to work, but people who have built their entire careers on the old view of things can have a very difficult time accepting a new paradigm, and will go to ludicrous extremes to defend the old one to their dying breath. The impact theory of extinctions is one of the scariest concepts I have ever come across, but I am a lot happier knowing how things really work. This is an utterly fascinating read, and I can't recommend it strongly enough. To anyone interested in geology, astronomy, dinosaurs, (who isn't interested in dinosaurs??), or the workings of science, I can only say---READ THIS BOOK!!!!

Night Comes to the Cretaceous.......2003-08-01

All in all, James Lawrence Powell did a superb job in writing this book. He is highly opinionated and interprets data in a manner to support his fundamental belief (that an asteroid caused the KT extinctions).
I advise readers to get a balanced view by also reading "The Great Dinosaur Extinction Controvery" by Charles Officer and Jack Page. I felt that Powell covered the topic very thoroughly and provided historical context to help the novice extinctions reader. I felt that the book was very weak in dicussing the paleontological aspects of the extinction. Next revision perhaps.

How Scientific Revolutions Actually Happen.......2003-06-13

One of the great scientific revolutions of our times has been the recognition that the biological evolution of Earth is influenced random impacts by comets and asteroids. When this concept was put forward in 1980, it was radical; today it is the accepted wisdom in paleontology, geology, and evolutionary biology. Jim Powell tells a fascinating story of the evidence for this transformation and of the scientists who have been protgonists in the struggle to understand this evidence and integrate it into our broader undestanding of our planet. This is one of the best books ever written to trace the history of a scientific controversy and of the people involved, warts and all.

Branching Processes: Variation, Growth, and Extinction of Populations (Cambridge Studies in Adaptive Dynamics)

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Branching Processes: Variation, Growth, and Extinction of Populations (Cambridge Studies in Adaptive Dynamics)
Patsy Haccou , Peter Jagers , and Vladimir A. Vatutin
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Population Genetics: A Concise Guide

ASIN: 0521832209

Book Description

Biology takes a special place among the other natural sciences because biological units, be they pieces of DNA, cells or organisms, reproduce more or less faithfully. As for any other biological processes, reproduction has a large random component. The theory of branching processes was developed especially as a mathematical counterpart to this most fundamental of biological processes. This active and rich research area allows us to make predictions about both extinction risks and the development of population composition, and also uncovers aspects of a population's history from its current genetic composition. Branching processes play an increasingly important role in models of genetics, molecular biology, microbiology, ecology and evolutionary theory. This book presents this body of mathematical ideas for a biological audience, but should also be enjoyable to mathematicians.

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Dynamics of Extinction

Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
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Binding: Hardcover

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Save your money
Firefighting Strategies and Tactics

Firefighting Strategies and Tactics
James Angle , David Harlow , William Lombardo , Craig Maciuba , and Michael Gala
Manufacturer: Cengage Delmar Learning
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Firefighting & Prevention | Civil Service | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1418048933

Book Description

This comprehensive text is an ideal building block for aspiring fire officers and an essential review for experienced command officers. Incident command requires background knowledge and application skills in all phases of strategy and tactics - knowing what needs to be done as well as the how it is going to be accomplished. An important element of this book is the use of case studies based on actual incidents to show the applications of the theories to real world situations. The authors' myriad experiences in all phases of the operational fire service are included to detail the command operations from the company level to major alarms. The book uses a clear, systematic approach correlating with the course objectives of Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education enabling it to be used by all levels of fire fighters and fire officers.

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Save your money.......2006-02-22

If you need to buy the book because the author is your instructor,then do so. If you want to learn how to make sound, prudent decisions as a firefighter, purchase John Norman's "Fire Officer's Handbook." The difference between the two is like reading Dr. Suess and Shakespeare.

Firefighting Strategies and Tactics.......2001-07-26

I think this is a wonderful book. It kept me spellbound for hours.

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Superplumes: Beyond Plate Tectonics

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1402057490

Book Description

This book provides a concise overview of our understanding of the entire mantle, its evolution since early differentiation and the consequences of superplumes for earth surface processes. The balanced, international authorship of the eighteen contributions has produced a state-of-the-science report on the emerging concept of superplumes and has documented the potential of superplumes to serve as a testable model for future studies.

The topic of superplume dynamics has been treated from different angles covering the sub-disciplines of geology, geochemistry, petrology as well as geophysics (including mineral physics, seismic tomography and mantle dynamics). For instance, it is shown how transport of heat via superplumes, huge stable pipes connecting the high-temperature core with the surface land mass, could have caused mass extinctions and drastic environmental change.

Audience: Scientists, researchers and graduate students in geology, geochemistry and geophysics, planetary scientists, astrobiologists and environmental engineers.

A comparative analysis of decline in the distribution ranges of orchid species in Estonia and the United Kingdom [An article from: Biological Conservation]

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A comparative analysis of decline in the distribution ranges of orchid species in Estonia and the United Kingdom [An article from: Biological Conservation]
T. Kull , and M.J. Hutchings
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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ASIN: B000RR8LEI

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This digital document is a journal article from Biological Conservation, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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National databases were interrogated to analyse and compare proportional alterations in the distribution ranges of orchid species between two surveys in the UK (surveys completed in 1969 and 1999) and in Estonia (surveys completed in 1970 and 2004). Nearly every species declined between the surveys in both countries, and two species may have become extinct in the UK. Mean decline in distribution range for 49 species in the UK was 50% (range 14-100%), and 23 species declined by over 50%. The mean decline for 33 orchid species in Estonia was 25% (range 0-62%), and three species declined by over 50%. These results corroborate serious range declines recently reported for orchids in other regions of Europe (the Netherlands and Flanders, Belgium). In contrast with these other regions, we found that species associated with calcareous grassland and woodland habitats had suffered greater mean contractions in range than species of wet grassland habitats. Greater decline was recorded for species found on drier soils, and for species characteristic of open habitats. In addition, greater decline was found in species with short inflorescences, and in species that were short-lived, and clonal. Our results suggest that levels of decline shown both by groups of species associated with specific habitat types, and by particular species of orchid, depend strongly on local policies and specific conservation action, and indicate the habitat types on which conservation efforts may need to be concentrated in the future. The results suggest that grazing and mowing of competing vegetation, and avoidance of substrate disturbance, will produce the greatest rewards for the most vulnerable species. able species.

Comparing predictions of extinction risk using models and subjective judgement [An article from: Acta Oecologica]

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Comparing predictions of extinction risk using models and subjective judgement [An article from: Acta Oecologica]
M.A. McCarthy , D. Keith , J. Tietjen , and M.A. Burgman
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Elsevier | By Publisher | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B000RR1D0C

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from Acta Oecologica, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Models of population dynamics are commonly used to predict risks in ecology, particularly risks of population decline. There is often considerable uncertainty associated with these predictions. However, alternatives to predictions based on population models have not been assessed. We used simulation models of hypothetical species to generate the kinds of data that might typically be available to ecologists and then invited other researchers to predict risks of population declines using these data. The accuracy of the predictions was assessed by comparison with the forecasts of the original model. The researchers used either population models or subjective judgement to make their predictions. Predictions made using models were only slightly more accurate than subjective judgements of risk. However, predictions using models tended to be unbiased, while subjective judgements were biased towards over-estimation. Psychology literature suggests that the bias of subjective judgements is likely to vary somewhat unpredictably among people, depending on their stake in the outcome. This will make subjective predictions more uncertain and less transparent than those based on models.

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