I earn a point in my summer library reading challenge if I review a book.
I’ve read a lot of great books lately, but it was hard to pick one to review. I finally settled on one that I had mixed feeling about. The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth’s Past Mass Extinctions by Peter Brannen discusses the five mass extinctions of our past and the possibility of a sixth one.
I love learning about mass extinctions. The End Permian (252 million years ago) is my favorite, but after listening (with Audible) to this book, I’m also a fan of the Devonian (375 million years ago.) The reason I had mixed feelings is that the first time I listened to this book, I was disappointed that he didn’t just say, “this extinction was caused by X, and this extinction was caused by Y.” I assumed, from my other reading, that mass extensions were understood.
I then listened to it again, because I love the topic and there aren’t that many books on the subject. This time I understood that mass extinctions are complicated, and there is still much to learn. Peter explores all the possible answers, even some that sound a little crazy. I appreciated his coverage of the science hand waving.
If you would like to learn about Earth’s deep past and the animals that inhabited it, I recommend this book. If you are curious about what the future might look like, I recommend this book. Peter did a good job explaining everything that we don’t know.