The sixth extinction : an unnatural history Cover Image

The sixth extinction : an unnatural history / Elizabeth Kolbert.

Summary:

Over the last half billion years, there have been five major mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on Earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around the cataclysm is us. In this book the author tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. She provides a moving account of the disappearances of various species occurring all around us and traces the evolution of extinction as concept, from its first articulation by Georges Cuvier in revolutionary Paris up to Lyell and Darwin, and through the present day. The sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy, compelling us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.

Record details

ISBN: 9780805092998
ISBN: 0805092994
ISBN: 9780805099799
ISBN: 0805099794
ISBN: 9781408851234
ISBN: 1408851237
ISBN: 9781408851227
ISBN: 1408851229
ISBN: 9781408851210
ISBN: 1408851210
ISBN: 9781408857113
ISBN: 1408857111
ISBN: 9781250062185
ISBN: 1250062187
Physical Description: III unnumbered pages, 319 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Edition: First edition
Publisher: New York : Henry Holt and Company, 2014.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-304) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Sixth extinction -- Mastodon's molars -- Original penguin -- Luck of the ammonites -- Welcome to the Anthropocene -- Sea around us -- Dropping acid -- Forest and the trees -- Islands on dry land -- New Pangaea -- Rhino gets an ultrasound -- Madness gene -- Thing with feathers.
Awards Note:	Pulitizer Prize for General Nonfiction, 2015 Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries (CBHL) Annual Literature Award Nominee, 2015