Awards
- Commended for Choice 's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016 2016
Overview
Two hundred sixty million years ago, life on Earth suffered wave after wave of cataclysmic extinctions, with the worst wiping out nearly every species on the planet. The Worst of Times delves into the mystery behind these extinctions and sheds light on the fateful role the primeval supercontinent, known as Pangea, might have played in causing these global catastrophes. Drawing on the latest discoveries as well as his own firsthand experiences conducting field expeditions to remote corners of the world, Paul Wignall reveals what scientists are only now beginning to understand about the most prolonged and calamitous period of environmental crisis in Earth's history. Wignall shows how these series of unprecedented extinction events swept across the planet, killing life on a scale more devastating than the dinosaur extinctions that would follow. The Worst of Times unravels one of the great enigmas of ancient Earth and shows how this ushered in a new age of vibrant and more resilient life on our planet.
Full Product Details
Author: Paul B. Wignall
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 14.00cm
, Height: 2.30cm
, Length: 21.60cm
Weight: 0.454kg
ISBN: 9780691142098
ISBN 10: 0691142092
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 29 September 2015
Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
General
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Temporarily unavailable
The supplier advises that this item is temporarily unavailable. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out to you.
Language: English
Reviews
[Wignall] presents a sound examination of an 80-million-year span, which began nearly 260 million years ago, that is considered by scientists to have been the most extreme extinction event in the Earth's history... [A] great example of scientific sleuthing. --Publishers Weekly [An] excellent introduction to the latest thinking about this key period in Earth's history... Wignall's book is enthralling. --Matthew Cobb, New Scientist In this scholarly but accessible analysis, geologist Wignall explores the perfect storm of cataclysms, plate tectonics and other forces that led to 'The Great Dying'--and the rebound of life in its aftermath. --Gemma Tarlach, Discover magazine
[Wignall] presents a sound examination of an 80-million-year span, which began nearly 260 million years ago, that is considered by scientists to have been the most extreme extinction event in the Earth's history... [A] great example of scientific sleuthing. --Publishers Weekly
Author Information
Paul B. Wignall is professor of paleoenvironments at the University of Leeds.
