When Life Nearly Died by Michael J Benton
In the greatest mass extinction in Earth's history at least 90 percent of life was killed, both on land and in the sea, almost bringing evolution to a halt. What caused destruction on such an unimaginable scale? Was it the impact of a huge meteorite, or prolonged volcanic eruption in Siberia? This book assembles the evidence and gives the verdict.
'A superb book that tells a gripping tale … Benton’s book is in part a geological detective story, but with a rich historical backplotHe finally names a culprit in a dénouement worthy of Hercule Poirot' - The Times Higher Education Supplement
'Brings back to Earth Science a sense of adventure ... it is both a wonderfully good read and a valued reference' - James Lovelock, author of Gaia
'Brings back to Earth Science a sense of adventure ... it is both a wonderfully good read and a valued reference' - James Lovelock, author of Gaia
Michael Benton is a palaeontologist who has made fundamental contributions to understanding the history of life, particularly concerning how biodiversity changes through time. He has led in integrating data from living and fossil organisms to generate phylogenies — solutions to the question of how major groups originated and diversified through time. This approach has revolutionised our understanding of major questions, including the relative roles of internal and external drivers on the history of life, whether diversity reaches saturation, the significance of mass extinctions, and how major clades radiate. A key theme is the Permo–Triassic mass extinction, the largest mass extinction of all time, which took place over 250 million years ago, where he investigates how life was able to recover from such a devastating event. Michael has written engaging books for children on the theme of dinosaurs, as well as a significant number of palaeontology textbooks for university students. He founded the MSc in Palaeobiology at Bristol in 1996, from which more than 450 students have graduated. He has supervised more than 70 PhD students.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780500285732 |
| ISBN 10 | 050028573X |
| Title | When Life Nearly Died |
| Author | Michael J Benton |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Thames & Hudson Ltd |
| Year published | 2008-04-07 |
| Number of pages | 336 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |