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摘要
摘要
To help us understand what happened during the Ice Age, Peter Ward takes us on a tour of other mass extinctions through earth's history. He presents a compelling account of the great comet crash that killed off the dinosaurs, and describes other extinctions that were even more extensive. In so doing, he introduces us to a profound paradigm shift now taking place in paleontology: rather than arising from the gradual workings of everyday forces, all mass extinctions are due to unique, catastrophic events. Written with an irresistible combination of passion and expertise, The Call of Distant Mammoths is an engaging exploration of the history of life and the importance of humanity as an evolutionary force.
"Carefully argued...an intelligent and compelling book."-THE OLYMPIAN, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
"Ward deftly summarizes a large body of scientific literature, simplifying complex ideas for the general reader without condescension."-PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Did the overkill really happen?...Peter Ward deftly summarizes the arguments...Ward tells (the story) well."-THE NEW SCIENTIST
评论 (3)
出版社周刊评论
Ward (The End of Evolution), a University of Washington paleontologist, clearly loves his work, and writes about it capably and with passion. His new book, though ostensibly about the disappearance of mammoths and mastodons from the Americas, covers much more ground, delving into the extinction of the dinosaurs as well as the rise of Homo sapiens. Ward deftly summarizes a large body of scientific literature, simplifying complex ideas for the general reader without condescension and ultimately concluding that the continents' megafauna were hunted into oblivion by the earliest humans. (Late-breaking news pushing back the time of human arrival in the Americas by more than a millennium raises some questions about his conclusion but doesn't detract from the overall power of the book.) Ward winds up his book by extrapolating from early extinctions implications for modern-day conservation biology. His frequent invocation of the metaphor of time travel as a means of examining the past is the only less-than-successful aspect of his informative, enjoyable report. Illustrations. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Choice 评论
Ward's book is one of many in recent years about extinction. What sets it apart is that the author is a practicing paleontologist who studies long-dead organisms, especially those with shells, such as clams, snails, and ammonites. Here he examines the extinction not only of large "Ice-Age" mammals that disappeared some 5-10,000 years ago, but also the dinosaurs and earlier forms, as well as the still-living large mammals that face modern human depredations. He comes down firmly on the side of catastrophic extinction: the asteroid that ended the age of dinosaurs, the gradual but inexorable "overkill" of Ice-Age mammoths and other mammals by human hunting pressure, and the likely destruction of all living large mammals by the growth of worldwide human technological society, unless we all do something about it. On the other hand, this book is overwritten and even a bit too personal, as if Ward were swept away by the success of his earlier On Methuselah's Trail (CH, Sep'92). Popularizing science is not easy, especially in a way that will please scientists. This is better than most. General readers; undergraduates. E. Delson; CUNY Herbert H. Lehman College
《图书馆杂志》(Library Journal )书评
Until 10,000 years ago, many species of large mammals still flourished on earth: giant ground sloths and camels, sabre-toothed tigers, and bison and elk, as well as mammoths. Most of these mammals had no natural predators, so why did they disappear? Currently, the top two theories are that humans overhunted them or that climate changes resulted in their demise. Ward (The End of Evolution, LJ 5/15/94) reviews the continuing debate surrounding dinosaur extinction (was it a comet or catastrophic climate changes?), which influences the study of the Ice Age extinctions. He recounts the recent advancement in carbon dating techniques, which changes earlier interpretations of significant fossil sites, and describes the problems in locating fossils. Using the latest studies of mammoth tusks, Ward concludes that the mass extinctions were the result of unique and catastrophic conditions. His writing style is conversational and dynamic; his facts are stunning. Highly recommended for all collections.Gloria Maxwell, Kansas City P.L., Kan. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.