Mass-Extinction Debates: How Science Works in a Crisis

ISBN-10
0756761468
ISBN-13
9780756761462
Category
Science
Pages
370
Language
English
Published
1994-11-01
Author
William Glen

Description

The history of life on Earth is punctuated by half a dozen puzzling mass extinctions that constitute the benchmarks of the geologic time scale. These great breaks in the continuity of the fossil record have invited a wide array of scientific speculation. The most thoroughly studied of the mass extinctions occurred 65 million years ago when most life on Earth, incl. the dinosaurs, perished. Two rival hypotheses have emerged to account for this catastrophic event: the "impactor" hypothesis sees the earth bombarded with deadly meteorites, while the competing "volcanist" hypothesis evokes gigantic volcanic eruptions. This book examines the arguments and behavior of the scientists who have been locked in conflict over the competing hypotheses.

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