When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time by Michael J. Benton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
One would think that “page turner” and “Permian mass extinction” are mutually exclusive but one would be wrong. This is a fascinating book which, at the very least, will get you to schedule a trip to the nearest museum to view the fossils they have on display. What you will learn about fossils and the history of paleontology will make those “dead bones” come to life. The story of how paleontologists and other scientists who study the past came to understand the extinction events that have shaped life on this planet is told by someone who participated in many of the discoveries and debates and it is told well. The discussion and tying together of the different themes which led up to and caused the Permian extinction is a rather sobering one given the changes we are seeing around the world today. This book will inform your thinking long after you finish it.
secularinthesouth 