Extinction: How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago

Extinction: How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago
by Douglas H. Erwin

Extinction: How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago
List Price: $19.95
Our Price: $12.59
You Save: $7.36 (37%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $11.79 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Douglas H. Erwin
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-04-21
ISBN: 0691136289
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Princeton University Press

Book Reviews of Extinction: How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago

Book Review: Hand a copy of your book to an English major, Prof. Erwin.
Summary: 4 Stars

I am loving this book but besides all my highlighting of truly interesting text, I am having to edit a lot of punctuation, style and grammar errors. Yes, I'm a bit obsessive but I'm wondering Prof. Erwin, why aren't you? This is the fourth printing. . . these errors should be gone by now. Are you as lackadaisical about your geology?

Summary of Extinction: How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago

Some 250 million years ago, the earth suffered the greatest biological crisis in its history. Around 95% of all living species died out--a global catastrophe far greater than the dinosaurs' demise 65 million years ago. How this happened remains a mystery. But there are many competing theories. Some blame huge volcanic eruptions that covered an area as large as the continental United States; others argue for sudden changes in ocean levels and chemistry, including burps of methane gas; and still others cite the impact of an extraterrestrial object, similar to what caused the dinosaurs' extinction.

Extinction is a paleontological mystery story. Here, the world's foremost authority on the subject provides a fascinating overview of the evidence for and against a whole host of hypotheses concerning this cataclysmic event that unfolded at the end of the Permian.

After setting the scene, Erwin introduces the suite of possible perpetrators and the types of evidence paleontologists seek. He then unveils the actual evidence--moving from China, where much of the best evidence is found; to a look at extinction in the oceans; to the extraordinary fossil animals of the Karoo Desert of South Africa. Erwin reviews the evidence for each of the hypotheses before presenting his own view of what happened.

Although full recovery took tens of millions of years, this most massive of mass extinctions was a powerful creative force, setting the stage for the development of the world as we know it today.

Geology Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Recent Reads, regularly updated
The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century ImageThe Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century
by Ross E. Dunn
University of California Press; Published: 2004-12-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.84
Price in other shops: $21.95
Henry David Thoreau : A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers / Walden; Or, Life in the Woods / The Maine Woods / Cape Cod (Library of America) ImageHenry David Thoreau : A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers / Walden; Or, Life in the Woods / The Maine Woods / Cape Cod (Library of America)
by Henry David Thoreau
Library of America; Published: 1985-09-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.00
Price in other shops: $40.00
The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution ImageThe Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution
by Richard Dawkins
Mariner Books; Published: 2005-09-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.78
Price in other shops: $16.95
Mathematics: Its Content, Methods and Meaning ImageMathematics: Its Content, Methods and Meaning
by A. D. Aleksandrov, A. N. Kolmogorov, M. A. Lavrent'ev
Dover Publications; Published: 1999-07-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $21.51
Price in other shops: $38.95
The Decameron (Signet Classics) ImageThe Decameron (Signet Classics)
by Giovanni Boccaccio
Signet Classics; Published: 2002-12-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops: $7.95
The Pillars of the Earth (Deluxe Edition) (Oprah's Book Club) ImageThe Pillars of the Earth (Deluxe Edition) (Oprah's Book Club)
by Ken Follett
NAL Trade; Published: 2007-11-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.37
Price in other shops: $24.95
Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture ImageGaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture
by Toby Hemenway
Chelsea Green; Published: 2001-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.59
Price in other shops: $24.95
Newcomer's Handbook for Moving to and Living in Seattle (Newcomer's Handbooks) ImageNewcomer's Handbook for Moving to and Living in Seattle (Newcomer's Handbooks)
by Maria Christensen
First Books; Published: 2007-04-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.47
Price in other shops: $24.95
Roadside Geology of Washington (Roadside Geology Series) (Roadside Geology Series) ImageRoadside Geology of Washington (Roadside Geology Series) (Roadside Geology Series)
by David D. Alt
Mountain Press Publishing Company; Published: 1984-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.38
Price in other shops: $18.00
The Rudder Treasury: A Companion for Lovers of Small Craft ImageThe Rudder Treasury: A Companion for Lovers of Small Craft
Sheridan House; Published: 2003-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.28
Price in other shops: $16.50
Similar Books and other products
After the Dinosaurs: The Age of Mammals (Life of the Past) ImageAfter the Dinosaurs: The Age of Mammals (Life of the Past)
by Donald R. Prothero
Indiana University Press; Published: 2006-06-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $25.05
Price in other shops: $39.95
Twilight of the Mammoths:: Ice Age Extinctions and the Rewilding of America (Organisms and Environments) ImageTwilight of the Mammoths:: Ice Age Extinctions and the Rewilding of America (Organisms and Environments)
by Paul S. Martin
University of California Press; Published: 2007-05-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.25
Price in other shops: $18.95
The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300-1850 ImageThe Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300-1850
by Brian M. Fagan
Basic Books; Published: 2001-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.67
Price in other shops: $16.95
Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past, and What They Can Tell Us About Our Future ImageUnder a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past, and What They Can Tell Us About Our Future
by Peter D. Ward
Collins; Published: 2008-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops: $14.95
Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body ImageYour Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body
by Neil Shubin
Pantheon; Published: 2008-01-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.19
Price in other shops: $24.00
Out of Thin Air: Dinosaurs, Birds, and Earth's Ancient Atmosphere ImageOut of Thin Air: Dinosaurs, Birds, and Earth's Ancient Atmosphere
by Peter Ward
Joseph Henry Press; Published: 2006-09-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.00
Price in other shops: $27.95
When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time ImageWhen Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time
by Michael Benton
Thames & Hudson; Published: 2005-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.77
Price in other shops: $24.95
Frozen Earth: The Once and Future Story of Ice Ages ImageFrozen Earth: The Once and Future Story of Ice Ages
by Doug Macdougall
University of California Press; Published: 2006-05-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.50
Price in other shops: $16.95
Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth (Princeton Science Library) ImageLife on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth (Princeton Science Library)
by Andrew H. Knoll
Princeton University Press; Published: 2004-08-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.61
Price in other shops: $22.95
Catastrophes and Lesser Calamities: The Causes of Mass Extinctions ImageCatastrophes and Lesser Calamities: The Causes of Mass Extinctions
by Tony Hallam
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2005-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.77
Price in other shops: $20.00
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories