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Like Indigenous and Native American storytelling, children’s books have the power to paint a picture for children, shared though reading aloud, the lives, values, stories, and cultures of different people. It’s important to remember the past, especially as we move further away from it, even when that history is painful. Starting in the late 1800s...
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The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History

by Elizabeth Kolbert
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History

  • Comment on this title
  • Synopses & Reviews
  • Award Excerpt

ISBN13: 9781250062185
ISBN10: 1250062187
Condition: Like New


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Awards

Winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction

From Powells.com

25 Women to Read Before You Die

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Presidential Reading List Selection

Staff Pick

In her Pulitzer Prize–winning book, The Sixth Extinction, New Yorker staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert confronts what may well be the most compelling, portentous, and defining characteristic of our modernity: the nearly inconceivable and irretrievable loss of earth's biodiversity at the hands of our own species. Although earth has endured five mass extinctions over the last half-billion years — during which "the planet has undergone change so wrenching that the diversity of life has plummeted" — we now have the distinct and dubious honor of not only "witnessing one of the rarest events in life's history, [but] also causing it." Incisive, imperative, and full of shrewd reporting, Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction is a most significant and substantial work — one that foresees the calamity of our future and aims to forestall the most ignominious bequest imaginable. Recommended By Jeremy G., Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

OVER THE LAST HALF-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 prose that is at once frank, entertaining, and deeply informed, New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. Interweaving research in half a dozen disciplines, descriptions of the fascinating species that have already been lost, and the history of extinction as a concept, Kolbert provides a moving and comprehensive account of the disappearances occurring before our very eyes. She shows that the sixth extinction is likely to be mankinds most lasting legacy, compelling us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.

Review

"Riveting....It is not possible to overstate the importance of Kolbert's book." San Francisco Chronicle

Review

"Arresting....Ms. Kolbert shows in these pages that she can write with elegiac poetry about the vanishing creatures of this planet, but the real power of her book resides in the hard science and historical context she delivers here, documenting the mounting losses that human beings are leaving in their wake." The New York Times

Review

"Surprisingly breezy, entirely engrossing, and frequently entertaining....Kolbert is a masterful, thought-provoking reporter." The Boston Globe

Review

"Your view of the world will be fundamentally changed....Kolbert is an astute observer, excellent explainer, and superb synthesizer, and even manages to find humor in her subject matter." The Seattle Times

Review

"Powerful....An invaluable contribution to our understanding." Al Gore, The New York Times Book Review

Review

"[Kolbert] makes a page-turner out of even the most sober and scientifically demanding aspects of extinction.” New York Magazine

Review

"Ms. Kolbert's lively account is thought-provoking." The Wall Street Journal

Review

"[Kolbert] grounds her stories in rigorous science and memorable characters past and present, building a case that a mass extinction is underway, whether we want to admit it or not." Discover Magazine

Review

"Throughout her extensive and passionately collected research, Kolbert offers a highly readable, enlightening report on the global and historical impact of humans...a highly significant eye-opener rich in facts and enjoyment." Kirkus (starred review)

Review

"Kolbert accomplishes an amazing feat in her latest book, which superbly blends the depressing facts associated with rampant species extinctions and impending ecosystem collapse with stellar writing to produce a text that is accessible, witty, scientifically accurate, and impossible to put down." Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Review

"Rendered with rare, resolute, and resounding clarity, Kolbert's compelling and enlightening report forthrightly addresses the most significant topic of our lives." Booklist (starred review)

About the Author

Elizabeth Kolbert is a staff writer at The New Yorker. She is the author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change. She lives in Williamstown, Massachusetts, with her husband and children.

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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating 4.6 (6 comments)

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Ray Pierotti , March 23, 2018 (view all comments by Ray Pierotti)
The standards seem to have fallen for the Pulitzer Prize. This book is on a very important topic, but it is written in a style that does not provide a lot of useful information. In addition, there are a number of mistakes in the text, which in my case as a scientist detracted from my reading experience. Please realize that i do not disagree with the author's conclusions, but I simply don't think she reveals the depth of understanding I would like to see in such a work. It is more politics than science, and even on that level it comes across as naive.

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mark300y94 , April 25, 2017 (view all comments by mark300y94)
By all appearances, this looks like essential reading for the coming season.

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Enspec , January 13, 2016
Kolbert does an excellent job of narration while presenting powerful information. The style of writing keeps the reader attuned to the information they she is conveying. Great read, very insightful and eye opening!

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clloop , July 10, 2015 (view all comments by clloop)
A Great read. Anyone with any interest in our planet and its future will be engrossed by Elizabeth's research. She piles a ton of information on with out it feeling like a text book. Telling the past present and possibilities of the future you will be excited and disturbed by the information. I feel it helps you realize how much global change has already taken place and the devastation it has had on so many living things and what it could mean to our future.

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NicholasK , July 06, 2015 (view all comments by NicholasK)
I urge everyone who is able, to read this book. The importance of Kolbert's work in creating this bible of environmental sorts, is not easily overstated. Having just recently taken a class on paleoanthropology, I was surprised by how little I actually know/have learned regarding human evolution's impact on the earth. I was quite disturbed by many of Kolbert's studies (the results of which paint a very gloomy possible future for planet earth,) while simultaneously feeling an overall sense of awe in her ability to associate herself, and learn from, so many world experts regarding the material covered, and her ability to so eloquently relay what she learned into a format that can reach readers of all walks of life. Now more than ever is this work so important. If we are to create a better planet tomorrow, we must learn from past mistakes today.

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sikoyah , April 20, 2015 (view all comments by sikoyah)
Winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize, this book tells the story of how extinction is not only happening, but inevitable, given our current human course. She describes the previous five extinctions and then proceeds to tell in scientific and historical detail how and why the sixth and current one is happening. She says 20% to 50% of all life on earth will be extinct by the end of this century. The devastating effect of humans on planet earth and the never ending greed and disregard for other species could lead to our demise in the end. A must read.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9781250062185
Binding:
Trade Paperback
Publication date:
01/06/2015
Publisher:
PICADOR
Pages:
336
Height:
1.00IN
Width:
5.40IN
Thickness:
1.00
Copyright Year:
2015
Author:
Elizabeth Kolbert
Subject:
Environmental Studies-General
Subject:
Natural history

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