logo
Wrong email address or username
Wrong email address or username
Incorrect verification code
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History - Elizabeth Kolbert
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
by: (author)
4.06 90
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... show more
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.
show less
Format: hardcover
ISBN: 9780805092998 (0805092994)
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Pages no: 336
Edition language: English
Bookstores:
Community Reviews
CDRBill
CDRBill rated it
5.0 The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
This book does a great job showing how mankind has effected the Earth and it’s environmental ecosystems, not just in the modern era but for thousands of years. Everything the author discusses is well documented or shown to be very well researched hypotheses.There have been five mass extinction event...
Elentarri's Book Blog
Elentarri's Book Blog rated it
2.0 The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
Each chapter was interesting enough and would have made a nice magazine article. As a book, it didn't work to well. The book was rather superficial and lacked detail. I get the impression that the author thinks humans are evil and responsible for every extinction since humans became a species. A...
Midu Reads
Midu Reads rated it
What I thought:The Sixth ExtinctionThe Panamanian Golden Frogs are the focus of the chapter. However, the chapter is about the extinction of a large number of amphibians. Just made me sad as reading about extinctions always does.The Mastodon's MolarsFascinating story about an anatomist drawing concl...
SusannaG - Confessions of a Crazy Cat Lady
SusannaG - Confessions of a Crazy Cat Lady rated it
3.5 The Sixth Extinction
This is a very interesting examination of how human activities lead to the extinction of other species. However, I knocked it down half a star from 4, which was my rating before the last two chapters. In one, she blames modern humans for the extinction of neanderthals, on what I would call inad...
Betsy's Non-Blog
Betsy's Non-Blog rated it
4.0 The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
I really enjoyed this book and it was quite easy to read. It is really a series of vignettes about different organisms that are either recently extinct or about to go extinct, and the scientists who study them. The author made me feel as if these creatures were friends that are slowly (or quickly ...
Other editions (10)
Books by Elizabeth Kolbert
On shelves
Share this Book
Need help?