Apocalypse 2012: An optimist investigates the end of civilization - Softcover

Joseph, Lawrence E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007227396 ISBN 13: 9780007227396

Publisher: HarperElement, 2008

Synopsis

Is the world really coming to an end in 2012? The answer frighteningly is ‘maybe’, according to the Bible, the I Ching, the Mayans, meteorologists and vulcanologists. Apocalypse 2012 is cheerful sceptic Laurence E Joseph’s investigation into the 2012 Doomsday phenomenon.

Journalist and science writer Laurence E Joseph is our incisive and witty guide unravelling the religious, astrological and mystical prophecies behind the potentially earth-shattering events of 2012. And at the core of this book is Joseph's investigation into the growing number of scientific researchers trying to figure out why conditions around our planet are becoming so bizarre.

His adventures include:

· Hooking up with the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement whose cheerful motto 'Live Long and Die Out' is now available as a tattoo.
· Meeting the scientists who are trying to figure out why the present state of the sun is so worrisome – is it just going through a phase or is something major going on?
· Visiting Yellowstone National Park to see whether the seething supervolcano could soon stop civilisation dead in its tracks.
· Exploring the possibility of a terrorist attack that could plunge the whole Northern Hemisphere into the equivalent of a nuclear winter.

So, if 2012 really is going to be a year of unprecedented catastrophe, what can we do to increase our odds of surviving it? Should we head for the Kentucky hills or hightail it to Western Africa, where the Australian Doomsday 2012 enthusiast is staking his claim, or perhaps we'd be better blasting off for solar systems unknown?

With its mixture of hard science, investigative reportage and cast of colourful characters, Apocaplyse 2012 is Fast Food Nation for the terminally paranoid.

About this title

Review

"Joseph is a lively tour guide, introducing readers to Mayan shamans and Russian scientists with equal aplomb."--Publishers Weekly

From the Back Cover

THE END IS NIGH-ISH

Will 2012 be the year we all burn/drown/fall off the face of the planet as the solar system goes loco? The answer, frighteningly, is 'maybe'.

NASA, seismologists, paleontologists, geologists, meteorologists, vulcanologists, astronomers; the great ancient traditions, the Mayan calendar, the I-Ching and the Bible Code - it seems that people are lining up to predict that we shouldn't bother making any long-term plans.

Lawrence Joseph - journalist, science consultant and the only person who can write about potential disaster and make it funny - gets the bad news from astronomers in Siberia, observatories in South Africa, geophysicists, Mayan Shamans and psychics. Casting a sceptical if worried eye over claims of deadly solar radiation, a supervulcano under Yellowstone Park and the earth's magnetic field cracking up (among other potential dooms), he also provides fascinating insights into the science behind it all. Not to mention handy hints on what we might do to survive it, or, alternatively, where might be nicest to watch it all happen ...

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperElement
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0007227396
• ISBN 13: 9780007227396
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 322