Synopses & Reviews
"A high drama of discovery and a wonderful adventure in science....It will become a classic". -- Los Angeles Times Book Review
How was Tyrannosaurus rex toppled from the apex of creation? Sixty-five million years ago, there was an apocalyptic collision between the earth and a gigantic comet or asteroid. Increasingly, evidence suggests that the impact, which itself took less time than it takes to read this paragraph, triggered the dinosaurs rapid demise. Now Walter Alvarez, a geologist closely associated with the catastrophic theory of dinosaur extinction, makes his case in a gripping work that is both a scientific detective story and a convincing account of "one terrible day in the history of the Earth". Alvarez painstakingly assembles clues from the Italian Apennines to the Yucatan Peninsula and presents them with clarity and suspense. The result is a book of irresistible appeal and undeniable importance by a major figure in contemporary science.
"An estimable account by the world's leading authority on death from above". -- The New York Times Book Review
"First-rate...Alvarez provides the up-close tale of the comet or asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs". -- San Francisco Chronicle
Synopsis
Sixty-five million years ago a gigantic comet or asteroid as big as Mount Everest slammed into the Yucatan Peninsula, creating an explosion on impact equivalent to the detonation of a hundred million hydrogen bombs. It produced a cloud of roiling debris that blackened the sky for months as well as other geologic disasters--and triggered the demise of Tyrannosaurus rex.
We know what happened largely because Walter Alvarez--synthesizing the findings of experts from a variety of scientific fields--has written a gripping story of the decades-long search for the cause of the dinosaurs' extinction. Painstakingly assembling clues from the Italian Apennines and the depths of the Pacific and presenting them with the excitement of a great novel, T. rex and the Crater of Doom is a book of undeniable importance and irresistible appeal by a major figure in contemporary science.
"Engaging and witty. Read Alvarez for and excellent account of how scientists pose questions and seek to solve them."--Scientific American
"First-rate...Alvarez provides the up-close tale of the comet or asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs."--San Francisco Chronicle