Amazon cover image
Image from Amazon.com

The Sixth Extinction : an Unnatural History.

By: Publisher: New York : Picador, Henry Holt and Company, 2015Copyright date: 2014Edition: First Picador editionDescription: 319 pages : illustrations ; 21 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781250062185
  • 1250062187
  • 9780805092998
  • 0805092994
  • 9780805099799
  • 0805099794
  • 9781408851234
  • 1408851237
  • 9781408851227
  • 1408851229
  • 9781408851210
  • 1408851210
  • 9781408857113
  • 1408857111
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 576.8/4 23
LOC classification:
  • QE721.2.E97 K65 2015
Other classification:
  • Q111.7
Contents:
Author's note -- Prologue -- I: The sixth extinction -- II: The mastodon's molars -- III. The original penguin -- IV. The luck of the ammonites -- V: Welcome to the anthropocene -- VI: The sea around us -- VII: Dropping acid -- VIII: The forest and the trees -- IX: Islands on dry land -- X: The new Pangaea -- XI: The rhino gets an ultrasound -- XII: The madness gene -- XIII: The thing with feathers -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Selected bibliography -- Photo/Illustration credits -- Index.
Awards:
  • Pulitzer Prize, 2015.
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.Other editions: Reproduction of (manifestation):: Kolbert, Elizabeth. Sixth extinction.
List(s) this item appears in: 2020 - 2021 New Titles
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
BOOK BOOK NCAR Library Mesa Lab QE721.2 .E97 .K65 2015 1 Available 50583020010868
Total holds: 0

Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-304) and index.

Author's note -- Prologue -- I: The sixth extinction -- II: The mastodon's molars -- III. The original penguin -- IV. The luck of the ammonites -- V: Welcome to the anthropocene -- VI: The sea around us -- VII: Dropping acid -- VIII: The forest and the trees -- IX: Islands on dry land -- X: The new Pangaea -- XI: The rhino gets an ultrasound -- XII: The madness gene -- XIII: The thing with feathers -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Selected bibliography -- Photo/Illustration credits -- Index.

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.

Pulitzer Prize, 2015.

Questions? Email library@ucar.edu.

Not finding what you are looking for? InterLibrary Loan.