The Extinction Event

ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR A major book about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. In The Sixth Extinction, two-time winner of the National Magazine Award and New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert draws on the work of scores of researchers in half a dozen disciplines, accompanying many of them into the field: geologists who study deep ocean cores, botanists who follow the tree line as it climbs up the Andes, marine biologists who dive off the Great Barrier Reef. She introduces us to a dozen species, some already gone, others facing extinction, including the Panamian golden frog, staghorn coral, the great auk, and the Sumatran rhino. Through these stories, Kolbert provides a moving account of the disappearances occurring all around us and traces the evolution of extinction as concept, from its first articulation by Georges Cuvier in revolutionary Paris up through the present day. The sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy; as Kolbert observes, it compels us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.

When an Entelodon goes on the rampage down Oxford Street, causing untold damage and loss of life, Cutter decides a new approach to tackling the anomalies is needed. However, his investigations expose him and the team to a violent encounter with a mysterious Russian scientist and a situation more catastrophic and frightening than they've ever faced before... When Cutter, Abby and Connor disappear without a trace, Lester and Jenny must use every trick in the book to try and track them down...

After Jack Slidell's discovery of his law partner's death in an apparent drug/sex killing, he and the beautiful Caroline Wonder are suddenly hurled into a race for their lives, a hair-raising odyssey filled with outrageous characters and violent suspense. Hit men and sinister government agencies hunt them at every turn, but their quest for justice determines more than the guilt or innocence of a dead friend: the fate of the earth and humanity's survival hang in the balance. A page-burning, pulse-pounding chase-thriller of earth-shattering dimensions, The Extinction Event is also populated with colorful characters almost Dickensian in their energy and flamboyance. This is a book that will stick with you when you are done, a story you will remember for a long, long time. "Black (Like Father) swirls noirish mystery elements, fine writing, and engaging characters into a complicated, sexy thriller that will please readers of any genre. " - Publishers Weekly At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Mikhail Gorbachev and Zdenek Mlynar were friends for half a century, since they first crossed paths as students in 1950. Although one was a Russian and the other a Czech, they were both ardent supporters of communism and socialism. One took part in laying the groundwork for and carrying out the Prague spring; the other opened a new political era in Soviet world politics. In 1993 they decided that their conversations might be of interest to others and so they began to tape-record them. This book is the product of that "thinking out loud" process. It is an absorbing record of two friends trying to explain to one another their views on the problems and events that determined their destinies. From reminiscences of their starry-eyed university days to reflections on the use of force to "save socialism" to contemplation of the end of the cold war, here is a far more candid picture of Gorbachev than we have ever seen before.

In this vast sweep of our Earths history, Michael Benton brings the deep past to life as never before. Deploying the cutting-edge tools in biology, chemistry, physics and geology that are transforming our understanding of previous environmental cataclysms including the incredible new discovery of a hitherto unknown extinction event he uncovers not only their lethal effects but also the processes that brought about such large-scale destruction. Beginning with the oldest extinction, Benton investigates the Late Ordovician, which set the evolution of the first animals on an entirely new course; the late Devonian, brought on by global warming; the cataclysmic End-Permian, which wiped out over 90 per cent of all life on Earth; and, book-ending the age of the dinosaurs, the newly discovered Carnian Pluvial Event and the End-Cretaceous asteroid. He examines how global warming, acid rain, ocean acidification, erupting volcanoes and meteorite impact have affected conditions on Earth, the drastic consequences for global ecology, and how life in turn survived, adapted and evolved. This expert retelling of scientific breakthroughs allows us to link long-ago upheavals to our modern crises. As todays climate scientists and political leaders grapple to understand these processes and our planet enters the sixth great extinction, these insights from the past may hold the key to survival.

The first book to review all the evidence concerning both the dinosaur extinctions and all the other major extinctions - of plant, animal, terrestrial, and marine life - in the history of life. All the extinction mechanisms are critically assessed, including meteorite impact, anoxia, and volcanism. - ;Why do mass extinctions occur? The demise of the dinosaurs has been discussed exhaustively, but has never been out into the context of other extinction events. This is the first systematic review of the mass extinctions of all organisms, plant and animal, terrestrial and marine, that have occurred in the history of life. This includes the major crisis 250 million years ago which nearly wiped out all life on Earth. By examining current paleontological, geological, and sedimentological evidence of environmental changes, the cases for explanations based on climate change, marine regressions, asteroid or comet impact, anoxia, and volcanic eruptions are all critically evaluated. -

Side effects have occurred. It was supposed to be a miracle drug. With it, true beauty is achieved. Now, saying goodbye to depression, anxiety, and loneliness is a breeze. Of course, anything that sounds too good to be true usually is. Because something has gone horribly wrong. When events take a turn for the worst, this corporation calls on its best. Taylor Hart is a Cleaner well-versed in sweeping questionable events under the proverbial rug. The only thing better than her crisis management skills is her right hook. But the rabbit hole Taylor is thrust into only goes deeper as she discovers the nefarious specifics around the miracle drug and its creators. Taylor is in a race against the clock to find a cure before the darkest parts of human nature are amplified and consume them all. Grab this chilling thriller for those of you who enjoy AG Riddle's Atlantis Gene, Justin Cronin's The Passage, or Max Brook's World War Z.