The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans and Our Quest to Understand Earth’s Past Mass Extinctions - Softcover

Brannen, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1786073986 ISBN 13: 9781786073983

Publisher: Oneworld Publications, 2018

Synopsis

Five times our world has stood on the brink of Armageddon. It s been scorched, frozen, poison-gassed, smothered and pelted by asteroids. We are very lucky to be alive...

Over the past decade there has been a revolution in our understanding of global apocalypses. Armed with new technology, scientists have uncovered a myriad of clues in the fossil record about what caused these catastrophes a record rife with weird and wonderful creatures like dragonflies the size of seagulls and fishes with guillotines for mouths. Diving into deep time, The Ends of the World reveals how these near extinctions gave rise to our modern world and gives us a terrifying glimpse of what may lie ahead.

About this title

Review:

Gripping... Brannen excels at evoking lost worlds.

(The New Yorker)

Fascinating.

(The Economist)

A book about one apocalypse much less five could have been a daunting read, were it not for the wit, lyricism, and clarity that Peter Brannen brings to every page. He is a storyteller at the height of his powers, and he has found a story worth telling.

(Ed Yong, author of I Contain Multitudes)

An exciting detective story venturing into the extraordinary worlds of our Earth s past to discover what caused them to end. Brannen describes unimaginable floods, planet-scale catastrophes and incredible creatures that were once common. A cautionary tale for the future of our human age.

(Gaia Vince, author of Adventures in the Anthropocene)

[Brannen] is a companionable guide, as good at breathing life into the fossilized prose of scientific papers as he is at conjuring the Ordovician reign of the nautiloids.

(New York Times Book Review)

Urgent, compelling and beautifully written, Peter Brannen brings immense geological timescales sharply into focus, forcing us to reflect on humanity s brief but potent impact on the planet through the lens of deep time. Whether through fascination with the ancient past or grim fear for our future, The Ends of the Worlds is essential reading.

(Kat Arney, science writer and broadcaster)

If readers have time for only one book on the subject, this wonderfully written, well-balanced, and intricately researched (though not too dense) selection is the one to choose.

(Library Journal, starred review)

A vivid, fascinating story about all the past and future lives of our planet. Peter Brannen has the knack of opening up new worlds under our feet.

--(Michael Pye, author of The Edge of the World)

History repeats itself, the first time as a tragedy, the second as farce. Human history, that is. But the history of life on planet Earth only ever repeats as tragedy, as Peter Brannen explains in this powerful and unsettling book. The Ends of the World recounts the breath-taking stories of the five mass extinctions that have punctuated and diverted the course of evolution. Its vertiginous sense of the awful fragility of living things will never leave you, not least because humanity may now be writing the ultimate end of Brannen s riveting tale.

--(Stephen Curry, professor of structural biology, Imperial College)

Want to know the future? Look to the past, the deep past. That s one of the many insights you ll glean from reading Brannen s entertaining, engaging, elegant book.

--(David Biello, author of The Unnatural World)

About the Author:

Peter Brannen is an award-winning science journalist whose work has appeared in the Guardian, Wired, New York Times, Washington Post and Slate, amongst other publications. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterBrannen1. He lives in Boston.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oneworld Publications
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1786073986
• ISBN 13: 9781786073983
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352