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Everybody knows the Dark Ages weren't really dark, right? Not so fast, counters archaeological journalist David Keys, maybe it's more than just a slightly judgmental metaphor. His book Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of the Modern World, based on years of careful research spanning five continents, argues that sometime in A.D. 535, a worldwide disaster struck and uprooted nearly every culture then extant. Given contemporary reports of the sun being blotted out or weakened for nearly a year and a half, followed by famine, drought, and plague, it's hard not to think that so many reports from all over the world must be related.
Keys shows a keen grasp of both the written historical record from Asia, Africa, and Europe and the archaeological evidence from the Americas, and tells many tales of great havoc destroying old empires and laying the ground for new ones. Rome may have fallen, but Spain, England, and France rose in its place, while farther east, Japan and China each unified and gained strength after the chaos. Could an enormous volcanic eruption have had such influence on the world as a whole, and could the same thing happen tomorrow? Catastrophe makes no predictions, but leaves the reader with a new sense of history, nature, and destiny. --Rob Lightner
Book Description
It was a catastrophe without precedent in recorded history: for months on end, starting in A.D. 535, a strange, dusky haze robbed much of the earth of normal sunlight. Crops failed in Asia and the Middle East as global weather patterns radically altered. Bubonic plague, exploding out of Africa, wiped out entire populations in Europe. Flood and drought brought ancient cultures to the brink of collapse. In a matter of decades, the old order died and a new world—essentially the modern world as we know it today—began to emerge.
In this fascinating, groundbreaking, totally accessible book, archaeological journalist David Keys dramatically reconstructs the global chain of revolutions that began in the catastrophe of A.D. 535, then offers a definitive explanation of how and why this cataclysm occurred on that momentous day centuries ago.
The Roman Empire, the greatest power in Europe and the Middle East for centuries, lost half its territory in the century following the catastrophe. During the exact same period, the ancient southern Chinese state, weakened by economic turmoil, succumbed to invaders from the north, and a single unified China was born. Meanwhile, as restless tribes swept down from the central Asian steppes, a new religion known as Islam spread through the Middle East. As Keys demonstrates with compelling originality and authoritative research, these were not isolated upheavals but linked events arising from the same cause and rippling around the world like an enormous tidal wave.
Keys's narrative circles the globe as he identifies the eerie fallout from the months of darkness: unprecedented drought in Central America, a strange yellow dust drifting like snow over eastern Asia, prolonged famine, and the hideous pandemic of the bubonic plague. With a superb command of ancient literatures and historical records, Keys makes hitherto unrecognized connections between the "wasteland" that overspread the British countryside and the fall of the great pyramid-building Teotihuacan civilization in Mexico, between a little-known "Jewish empire" in Eastern Europe and the rise of the Japanese nation-state, between storms in France and pestilence in Ireland.
In the book's final chapters, Keys delves into the mystery at the heart of this global catastrophe: Why did it happen? The answer, at once surprising and definitive, holds chilling implications for our own precarious geopolitical future. Wide-ranging in its scholarship, written with flair and passion, filled with original insights, Catastrophe is a superb synthesis of history, science, and cultural interpretation.
Download Description
In A.D. 535-536, a climatic catastrophe occurred. It was of such mammoth proportions, it blotted out much of the heat and light of the sun for eighteen months and resulted -- directly or indirectly -- in climatic chaos, famine, migration, war, and massive political change on every continent. In other words, it altered history.
In this breakthrough examination, British archaeological journalist David Keys traces the identity and roots of this catastrophe -- continent by continent and virtually country by country -- showing how it is directly linked to the development of our modern world. The Plague, the rise of Islam, the fall of the Roman Empire, the movement of Asiatic tribes, the beginnings of the great South American empires -- Keys connects all these events that have previously been considered separate and shows us the far-reaching effects of incidents that first appear only localized. He makes us see history in holistic terms, as an integrated, planet-wide phenomenon.
In this fascinating, impeccably researched, and accessible book, Keys's innovative conclusions demonstrate how closely entwined global events truly are, and prove we must change the way we look at our past -- and thus, our future.
Customer Reviews:
My 100-word book review.......2007-03-28
In Catastrophe, author David Keys builds a convincing case for sudden climate change having occurred in the early 6th century, an abrupt dip in worldwide temperatures that would have had massive long-term consequences for civilisations all over the globe. Results could have included the weakening of the Byzantines, the downfall of Teotihuacan and the rise of Islam. This is a fascinating book, and the author's identification of a super volcano as the culprit is highly plausible. However, I think Keys possibly over-estimates this event as a shaper of our modern world, given the existence of so many other important factors.
A truly fascinating history.......2006-12-14
This is truly one of the most fascinating theories in ancient history. A volcano that shaped the modern world by forcing the migration of the huns, the crop failures in the Middle East that led to the rise of Islam and the start of the barbarian migrations towards Rome. It is almost too hard to summarize but if you believe that climate can change history than this is the book that will provide excellent evidence on that idea. Truly a masterpiece of an idea.
Looking for a catstrophe?.......2006-09-12
How much of human history has been shaped by catastrophic events? This exhaustively researched document seems like a natural place to find the answer. Unfortunately, the author's fascination with lurid details of human torture and dismemberment caused me to put the book down after just 60 blood-soaked pages. It's pretty clear that Mr. Key's interests in history do not run parallel to my own. I also found myself wondering about Key's qualifications as "Archaeological Journalist." I guess there are plenty of people who like reading tabloid-style history, and good luck to them, but I much prefer a calmer and scientific perspective of Derek Ager, in his book "The New Catastrophism, The Importance of the Rare Event in Geological History." -- Auralgo
FORCED CONCLUSIONS?.......2006-03-12
Mr. Key's authoritative research created a unique and new approach to the writing of history. His synthesis of science, culture and history was informative and entertaining. He identifies the volcanic eruption between Sumatra and Java in 535 that led to a climatic disaster that he believes helped create the modern world. He did convince this reader that the "Dark Ages were more literal than figurative." However, many of his historical conclusions were overstated. Chapters 19-29 lacked a depth of evidence and were too speculative. His constant use of words like "undoubtedly" made the reader question if he truly beleived his entire thesis? I concluded that he was at most one third correct, but ended in disagreeing that climate changes "alone" caused the birth of the modern world. I give it 4 stars for effort, but only 3 in its totality.
Interesting, relevant, but sometimes a bit stretched........2005-06-28
For the most part I found this book to be enjoyable, but it seems that Keys attempted in some areas to force his conclusion. Also, the same arguement seemed to be repeated far too often. Although I liked that the evidence of climate change was presented for essentially the entire planet, the conclusions at the end of each civilization were repetitive, simply restating the same thing (although, I suppose that was the point). I began to lose patience about 1/3 way through the book, but was able to persist through the conclusion. Perhaps it would have been better had Keys not spent so much time on minutae of Roman history and decline and had moved through the evidence quicker. The latter chapters on Asian and American experience were a little faster reading, likely due to the lack of minutae, largely due to the lack of records from which Keys could draw on. The final arguement on the causes of so much misfortune was compelling, but also left me feeling like our participation in the environment may all be for naught, since the Yellowstone caldera could explode at any moment, wiping us all out. I could not determine if this book wanted to be a book about climate change, history, or science.
Book Description
Why do catastrophes happen? What sets off earthquakes, for example? What about mass extinctions of species? The outbreak of major wars? Massive traffic jams that seem to appear out of nowhere? Why does the stock market periodically suffer dramatic crashes? Why do some forest fires become superheated infernos that rage totally out of control?
Experts have never been able to explain the causes of any of these disasters. Now scientists have discovered that these seemingly unrelated cataclysms, both natural and human, almost certainly all happen for one fundamental reason. More than that, there is not and never will be any way to predict them.
Critically acclaimed science journalist Mark Buchanan tells the fascinating story of the discovery that there is a natural structure of instability woven into the fabric of our world. From humble beginnings studying the physics of sandpiles, scientists have learned that an astonishing range of things–Earth’s crust, cars on a highway, the market for stocks, and the tightly woven networks of human society–have a natural tendency to organize themselves into what’s called the “critical state,” in which they are poised on what Buchanan describes as the “knife-edge of instability.” The more places scientists have looked for the critical state, the more places they’ve found it, and some believe that the pervasiveness of instability must now be seen as a fundamental feature of our world.
Ubiquity is packed with stories of real-life catastrophes, such as the huge earthquake that in 1995 hit Kobe, Japan, killing 5,000 people; the forest fires that ravaged Yellowstone National Park in 1988; the stock market crash of 1987; the mass extinction that killed off the dinosaurs; and the outbreak of World War I. Combining literary flair with scientific rigor, Buchanan introduces the researchers who have pieced together the evidence of the critical state, explaining their ingenious work and unexpected insights in beautifully lucid prose.
At the dawn of this new century, Buchanan reveals, we are witnessing the emergence of an extraordinarily powerful new field of science that will help us comprehend the bewildering and unruly rhythms that dominate our lives and may even lead to a true science of the dynamics of human culture and history.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Caos theory.......2007-06-14
I was unable to finish this book though it was recommended by a cousin. I just found that I got lost in all the formulas and expected outcomes. but I am sure that it is good research, just not for me.
Dissapointing ...........2007-01-09
It was well recommended to me but I found it quite boring and found myself fast forwarding through the chapters. It has an interesting theme - the cause of natural catastrophes - but for a science book I found it quite dissapoiting...
Good, but no answers really........2006-07-24
Its an interesting read. The reason I didnt give it 5 stars is that I have already read one of Marks previous books (Nexus) which has some overlap (not a lot) with this book. In fact it would be beneficial to readers to read the Nexus book before reading this one as what he writes about in that book really helps to understand this book.
I was really hoping for some more answers on how to predict things based on what Mark talks about but that is the essential outcome of the book, you cant predict things!
One of the best.......2006-05-28
This is the book that I would like to have written. Although being a popular account, it is scientifically accurate and carefull in its suggestions, always informing the reader what is consolidated science and what is scientific speculation.
In contrast to a previous review, I have read all the pages of this book. Since I am a physicist working in this very subject (self-organized criticality), I probably can say that if someone use the example of a Gaussian (bell shaped curve) to illustrate that the power laws discussed in the book are trivial, well, this person have not understood anything.
Gaussians have exponential decays, so they predict that very larg events (catastrophes) will occur with vanishing probability. For example, the heigh of people is distributed as a Gaussian. What is the probability of finding a 3 meter person?
Zero.
Distributions wich have power law tails, depending on the power exponent, may have no well defined variance or even average value. This means that there is no "average" earthquake, and that very big earthquakes (or other cathastrophes) are not "acts of God" but have a no desprezible chance of occur due to simple chain reactions of events.
I have introduced my students to ideas like critical states and modern physical thinking by using this book. So, I can recommend it to any reader without reserve. The emphasis by the author that critical chain reactions of events must be accounted by any view of History and Society is an important mind tool in our increasing interconnected (and, because it, prone to global chain reactions) world.
Much ado about nothing.......2006-03-19
I found this book incredibly boring. OK, I know this goes against the grain of other reviewers here. And I'll admit I'm only through the first 85 pages. But I already have that Ayn Rand feeling that the entire book is just going to rehash what's already been said.
I agree there are some interesting ideas, basically that we can't predict stuff very well. But here are a couple of examples of where Buchanan makes me suspicious that he really has the "Ph.D. in theoretical physics" stated on the back. The most egregious example so far, I think, is his statement on p. 85 that "take some really small number, such as .0001, change it by 10 percent, or even multiply it by 2 or 10 or 100 and you still have a very small number."
This, coming from a guy who has written page after page about scale invariance, seems just ludicrous. What on earth can he possibly mean by this nonsense??
Another example is his discussion of getting the friction issues wrong with the sliding blocks. Then he says, hey, but what about heat? (Bottom of p. 59). As if this great insight takes care of the problem of friction. How can a Ph.D. physicist make the mistake of thinking that heat is a new way of dealing with friction (duh?)
Another is his comment (bottom of p. 80) that the use of constants in the great differential equations of physics is some way mitigates the problem of tuning the blocks. He gives "c" in Maxwell's Equations and "h" in Quantum Mechanics, as examples of these. He writes "almost every good theory in the world has some numbers in it that have to be tuned to make the theory fit reality." But the "tuning" he's talking about with the sandpile and other games, has to do with the basic structure of the differential equations. "c" is a RESULT of Maxwell's Equations, not some "tuning" factor. It is true that the existence of Planck's constant is a fundamental feature of the equations, but its VALUE is simply a number that makes experimental observations work in SI units. Now Einstein's "cosmological constant" is much more like what Buchanan is talking about. But by this time one wonders if he really has a point here, or is just rambling on to cover up his hand-waving, and hoping he can get his book sold.
In my opinion, here is what this book is saying:
Let's take the example of the average temperature for my city on a given calendar date. The facts are these: the temperature over history for that date follows a bell-shaped curve. There IS a typical temperature. But the VARIATION of the actual temperature TODAY (i.e. a particular day) from the typical temperature is NOT very easy to predict. In fact, there is no TYPICAL VARIATION.
All we can say is that most days will have a small variation from the norm, and fewer days will have a larger variation from the norm. The "power law" concerns this variability. The larger the variability, the less likely it is to occur. If the average over time is 65 degrees, a lot of days in history will have had an average of 66 degrees on that date, and only a very few will have an average of 76 degrees on that date. Why is this fact worth writing an entire hold-your-breath book about?
Most days have no earthquakes. But when an earthquake DOES occur, we can't predict how big it will be. All we can say is that there will be more small earthquakes than large ones.
Well, duh!!
Yawn.
Book Description
A book designed for readers interested in the environment, this is an excellent source for Earth science information about hazardous Earth processes which affect virtually everyone living on this planet. Interesting and well-written, this book includes broad coverage of many natural hazards, including earthquakes, volcanoes, flooding, landslides, coastal erosion, extreme weather, and wildfires. For those interested in a comprehensive book about our environment and the impact of natural hazardous processes; also useful as a reference work for science writers and editors.
Customer Reviews:
Philosophy and Mathematics Rolled in One.......2001-07-25
Gordon Woo has written an elegant account of the impact of natural disasters in today's world, and the mathematical tools we have available for their prediction, mitigation and avoidance. He has drawn upon his theoretical physics background to discuss all major factors that have to be considered when quantitatively evaluating the likelihood and consequences of natural disasters. It is obvious he has read extensively not only the various methods available to engineers, scientists and financiers to avoid natural risks, but also the plethora of philosophical literature contributing to this field of study. It is an excellent account and can be enjoyed by those without an implicit understanding of mathematics, although some understanding adds to the experience. I look forward to his next book.
Average customer rating:
- Fairly Informative
- "Life" Seen Against A Cosmic Backdrop
- To Live and Let Live
- Great book!
- An oustanding book
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Impossible Extinction: Natural Catastrophes and the Supremacy of the Microbial World
Charles S. Cockell
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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Book Description
Every 225 million years the Earth, and all the life on it, completes one revolution around the Milky Way Galaxy. During this remarkable journey, life is influenced by calamitous changes. Comets and asteroids strike the surface of the Earth, stars explode, enormous volcanoes erupt, and, more recently, humans litter the planet with waste. Many animals and plants become extinct during the voyage, but humble microbes, simple creatures made of a single cell, survive this journey. This book takes a tour of the microbial world, from the coldest and deepest places on Earth to the hottest and highest, and witnesses some of the most catastrophic events that life can face. Impossible Extinction tells this remarkable story to the general reader by explaining how microbes have survived on Earth for over three billion years. Charles Cockell received his doctorate from the University of Oxford, and is currently a microbiologist with rhe Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI), based at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, UK. His research focusses on astrobiology, life in the extremes and the human exploration of Mars. Cockell has been on expeditions to the Arctic, Antarctic, Mongolia, and in 1993 he piloted a modified insect-collecting ultra-light aircraft over the Indonesian rainforests. He is Chair of the Twenty-one Eleven Foundation for Exploration, a charity that supports expeditions that forge links between space exploration and environmentalism.
Customer Reviews:
Fairly Informative .......2005-11-30
The book is pretty good but has some detractions. The organization does not hang together all that well. Some of the
potential causes of mass extinctions are not related to the Earth's 225 million year trip around the galactic center, so this obscure fact is mentioned too often and with too little affect. The book has neither footnotes nor a general reference section - this is disappointing because there are a lot of interesting facts that one might want to pursue further but it will take some effort to find the primary sources.
"Life" Seen Against A Cosmic Backdrop.......2003-07-01
In recent years, a new, broad scientific discipline has come into being: Astrobiology. As with anything new, its scope is still undergoing formulation. Some see Astrobiology as simply "exobiology-plus" (exobiology being a term used to describe the search for life's origins on earth -and elsewhere). Others (as a somewhat generic space biologist I include myself) see Astrobiology as something much more expansive - something not at all distant from "Life, the universe, and everything" to lift a line from Douglas Adams.
In his book "Impossible Extinction" author Charles Cockell embraces the larger definition of the term. His task is daunting: describe the Earth's voyage through the cosmos as a backdrop for the origin and evolution of life across the planet's surface - and subsurface. Add in regular catastrophes - of both terrestrial and extraterrestrial origin, stand back, and watch what life does.
Throughout the book (written in engaging style for both an educated layperson or a seasoned professional) it becomes clear that the true survivors as each disaster besets our planet are microbes. Not only do microbes barely hang on, but they thrive.
Over the course of life's tenure on our planet microbes have come to inhabit some of the most improbable and extreme (from a human perspective that is) ecological niches on - and within our planet. Such flexibility and tenacity affords the chance for survival even if the surface of the planet is laid waste and partially molten.
Of course, Earth is but one planet amongst an unimaginable number thought to exist in the universe. Cockell addresses this as well, placing our world and the life it carries, against a truly cosmic perspective. The reader of this well-presented book is left with a clear, concise understanding of what life is capable of enduring on Earth. And if it happened on this planet ...
To Live and Let Live.......2003-06-19
It is only within the last decade that most scientists have accepted that the Earth's geology and biology are both shaped by celestial events, as well as tectonic ones. Cockell has worked in both the Arctic and the Antarctic to study microscopic life under extreme conditions, and he gives us a splendid account of how microbes, which make up to 80% of our planet's biomass, have survived on our planet for three and a half billion years. He uses the 225 million year cycle it takes the Earth to circle the galaxy as a timeframe within which to describe their ability to survive everything from catastrophic volcanism to the impacts of asteroids. Along the way, he also examines chances for life elsewhere in the solar system. Needless to say, he demonstrates conclusively why microbes stand a better chance of survival on Earth than we do. Cockell's writing is authoritative, humorous, and accessible to a lay audience.
Great book!.......2003-06-18
I thought this book would be really technical, but I really enjoyed it, it was easy to read and very interesting!
An oustanding book.......2003-06-18
"IMPOSSIBLE EXTINCTION" by Charles S. Cockell is a fascinating book reflecting on the extraordinary hardiness and resilience of microbial life compared to that of more evolved and narrowly adapted forms of life in the face of global ecological catastrophes as can occur in planetary evolution. In addition to providing a comprehensive overview on the wonderful role and importance of microbes in evolution, Cockell's book presents bold new ideas about the possibilities of microbial life throughout the universe and of future life on Earth, and is at the same time an extremely entertaining read. I recommend this beautifully written book wholeheartedly to the scientist and the lay person alike. It has the feel of an instant classic.
Book Description
A whole alternative historical geology is presented in this book. The ruling dogmas of an old earth, slow overall geologic changes, organic evolution, the geologic column, etc., are examined and found wanting. In their place a Biblical geology is developed and defended, providing a scholarly explanation for such things as the biogeographical distribution of life, fossil succession, the origin of coal, etc., all in light of the global Noachian Deluge. Many little-known geologic facts are also brought to light. Before you conclude that whatever historical geology textbooks teach you is gospel truth, please read this book!
Customer Reviews:
I am not a scientist.......2007-02-17
Although I had high hopes for this book and have read many like it, it was entirely too technical for me. To be honest, only a scientist could fully appreciate it. Other than that, it is a very interesting book.
Scientific Research For The Flood Model.......2004-05-10
This is one of the first books I read on Flood Geology that contained all the research that I was looking for. As a geologist trained in evolution, I needed the scientific approach to the research studies on Flood geology. I learned things in this book that I had always had questions about, but that my professors never had the answers for. Questions about stratigraphy, fossil distributions, the ice age, radiometric dating problems, were all addressed here. This book helped launch my own desire to continue doing research on the question of origins. As usual, John Woodmorrappe's research is thorough and well documented.
Thoughtful, comprehensive, compelling........2004-02-03
Young earth creationists are often accused of being unscientific or ignorning the facts. Anyone who says that has obviously never read this book. It is thoroughly scientific and carefully researched, drawing mostly from the general (non-creationist) scientific literature. A must-have for the serious student of origins issues (evolution/creation). The book convincingly refutes a large number of commonly-heard objections to the "young earth" creationist position, including:
1. explaining bio-geography by post-flood migrations
2. showing that there is not too much coal, oil, limestone, or too many vertebrate fossils, etc., to be explained by a young earth position
3. an extremely thorough study of the actual distribution of index fossils throughout the world with a creationist explanation for the "fossil succession" on a young earth
4. a well-developed case study on the stratigraphic distribution of cephalopods (molluscs, like the nautilus) showing how what is mis-interpreted as temporal succession (evolutionary replacement through time) is actually environmental sorting (animal buried in different layers because they lived in different places, not different times)
5. an explanation of how cyclotherms could have formed (and, indeed, must have formed) rapidly.
These are technical studies, but accessible to the serious layperson. There are only two things that I wish were better. Some of the articles are themselves compilations and contain a few points not thoroughly supported. More than that, I wish some of the articles were updated, but the author is busy with new research.
I own the book and I highly recommend the it, especially in the newly re-typeset version sold here.
A serious creation anthology for every origins library........2003-08-12
This anthology of articles explores a range of geologic and biological phenomena associated with the Cataclysm of Noah's time. Each of these papers were originally published as peer-reviewed articles in the Creation Research Society Quarterly. Titles include:
Causes for the Biogeographic Distribution of Land Vertebrates After the Flood. (1990)
The Antediluvian Biosphere and its Capability of Supplying the Entire Fossil Record. (1986)
A Diluviological Treatise on the Stratigraphic Separation of Fossils. (1983)
An Anthology of Matters Significant to Creationism and Diluviology: Report 2. (1982)
The Essential Nonexistence of the Evolutionary-Uniformitarian Geologic Column: A Quantitative Assessment. (1981)
An Anthology of Matters Significant to Creationism and Diluviology: Report 1. (1980)
Radiometric Geochronology Reappraised. (1979)
The Cephalopods in the Creation and the Universal Deluge. (1978)
A Diluvian Interpretation of Ancient Cyclic Sedimentation. (1978)
Woodmorappes' noteworthy doggedness in his study of each subject is apparent in each of the papers presented. Unless you have the entire past history of the CRSQ this is a very worthy addition to the library of every serious student of origins.
Some Serious Creationist Research.......2002-05-11
This work is an excellent way to show that evolutionists who claim "creationists don't do any research" is an obviously false claim. John Woodmorappe has been a dedicated Creation scientist, with important publications such as "The Myth of Modern Dating Methods" and "Noah's Ark: A Feasibility Study". Although I still believe that the flood model has a long way to go, John contributes an impressive effort in order to help our Biblical understanding of the past improve. The study on the geological column is a very important issue, and Woodmorappe offers an excellent chapter dealing with the "Essential Nonexistance" of the geological column.
I have two problems with this work, however. One is that there are too many quotations used, and the other is that the material is a bit outdated in some areas. However, the book is a worthwhile addition to Creationist studies.
Book Description
In 1980, the radical theory was proposed that a comet or meteor struck the Earth 65 million years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs and 70 percent of all other species. "Night Comes to the Cretaceous" is the first comprehensive and objective account of how this incredible theory has changed the course of science. 35 illustrations.
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.
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- Fabulous
- Fascinating
- Mr. Rex and his pointless facility
- This subject isn't written in stone - yet
- This is the one that started it all...
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T. rex and the Crater of Doom
Walter Alvarez
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
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The Nemesis Affair: A Story of the Death of Dinosaurs and the Ways of Science
ASIN: 0691016305 |
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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.
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- The Impact of Catastrophes on Evolution
- Controversial re-examination of geology's hottest topic
- important information about geology and exciting
- Evolutionary Catastrophies.
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Evolutionary Catastrophes: The Science of Mass Extinction
Vincent Courtillot
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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ASIN: 0521583926 |
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.
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