{"product_id":"the-ends-of-the-world-volcanic-apocalypses-lethal-oceans-and-our-quest-to-understand-earths-past-mass-extinctions-isbn-9780062364814","title":"The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOne\u003cbr\u003eof Vox’s Most Important Books of the Decade\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/em\u003eEditors' Choice 2017\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eForbes \u003c\/em\u003eTop 10 Best Environment, Climate, and Conservation Book of 2017\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAs new groundbreaking research suggests that climate change played a major role in the most extreme catastrophes in the planet's history, award-winning science journalist Peter Brannen takes us on a wild ride through the planet's five mass extinctions and, in the process, offers us a glimpse of our increasingly dangerous future\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur world has ended five times: it has been broiled, frozen, poison-gassed, smothered, and pelted by asteroids. In \u003cem\u003eThe Ends of the World\u003c\/em\u003e, Peter Brannen dives into deep time, exploring Earth’s past dead ends, and in the process, offers us a glimpse of our possible future.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany scientists now believe that the climate shifts of the twenty-first century have analogs in these five extinctions. Using the visible clues these devastations have left behind in the fossil record, \u003cem\u003eThe Ends of the World\u003c\/em\u003e takes us inside “scenes of the crime,” from South Africa to the New York Palisades, to tell the story of each extinction. Brannen examines the fossil record—which is rife with creatures like dragonflies the size of sea gulls and guillotine-mouthed fish—and introduces us to the researchers on the front lines who, using the forensic tools of modern science, are piecing together what really happened at the crime scenes of the Earth’s biggest whodunits.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePart road trip, part history, and part cautionary tale, \u003cem\u003eThe Ends of the World\u003c\/em\u003e takes us on a tour of the ways that our planet has clawed itself back from the grave, and casts our future in a completely new light.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“Timely to say the least . . . with grace and wit, [Brannen] makes a compelling case that recognizing our fortune and coming to terms with our fragility means consciousness prevails in the universe. We are still capable of changing the way we live.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePaste Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Masterful . . . might be just the book to give to that uncle of yours who still wants to argue about climate change (or even to your US Representative). But first, read it yourself. It’s a page turner.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eArs Technica\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“[Brannen] is a companionable guide, as good at breathing life into the fossilized prose of scientific papers as he is at conjuring the Ordovician reign of the nautiloids.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A remarkable journey into the deep past that has much to teach us about the future of our planet.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Revealing . . . Effectively link[s] past and present, [while] wind[ing] down with projections for the future and a warning against inaction in the face of climate change.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“An exciting detective story venturing into the extraordinary worlds of our Earth’s past to discover what caused them to end. Brannen describes unimaginable floods, planet-scale catastrophes and incredible creatures that were once common. A cautionary tale for the future of our human age.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGaia Vince, author of Adventures in Anthropocene\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eThe Ends of the World\u003c\/em\u003e recounts the breath-taking stories of the five mass extinctions that have punctuated the course of evolution. Its vertiginous sense of the fragility of living things will never leave you, not least because humanity may now be writing the end of Brannen’s riveting tale.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eStephen Curry, professor of structural biology, Imperial College\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Robert Frost only gave us two options to end the world: fire or ice. Peter Brannen informs us in this fun rollick through deep history that there are so many more interesting ways to go.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePaul Greenberg, author of Four Fish\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Clear-eyed, urgent, and eloquent. . . . Brannen offers an important education, making an argument for how better understanding what’s happened can help us determine how to move forward.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Gripping . . . Brannen excels at evoking lost worlds.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A book about one apocalypse—much less five—could have been a daunting read, were it not for the wit, lyricism, and clarity that Peter Brannen brings to every page. He is a storyteller at the height of his powers, and he has found a story worth telling.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEd Yong, author of I Contain Multitudes\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A simultaneously enlightening and cautionary tale of the deep history of our planet and the possible future. . . . . entertaining and informative on the geological record and the researchers who study it. . . . a useful addition to the popular literature on climate change.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“If readers have time for only one book on the subject, this wonderfully written, well-balanced, and intricately researched (though not too dense) selection is the one to choose.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal (Starred Review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Much-needed as a cautionary lesson and a hopeful demonstration of how life on Earth keeps rebounding from destruction.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Want to know the future? Look to the past, the deep past. That’s one of the many insights you’ll glean from reading Brannen’s entertaining, engaging, elegant book.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDavid Biello, author of The Unnatural World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A vivid, fascinating story about all the past and future lives of our planet. Peter Brannen has the knack of opening up new worlds under our feet.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMichael Pye, author of The Edge of the World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ecco","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44888778211557,"sku":"NP9780062364814","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780062364814.jpg?v=1730229812","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-ends-of-the-world-volcanic-apocalypses-lethal-oceans-and-our-quest-to-understand-earths-past-mass-extinctions-isbn-9780062364814","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}