Scatter Adapt and Remember: How Humans Will Survive A Mass Extinction - Softcover

Newitz, Annalee

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143182889 ISBN 13: 9780143182887

Publisher: Penguin Canada, 2014

Synopsis

As a species, Homo sapiens is at a crossroads. Study of our planet’s turbulent past suggests  that we are overdue for a catastrophic disaster, whether caused by nature or by human  interference. It’s a frightening prospect, as each of the Earth’s past major disasters resulted  in a mass extinction, where more than 75 percent of the planet’s species died out. But in  Scatter, Adapt, and Remember , Annalee Newitz explains that although global disaster is  all but inevitable, our chances of long-term species survival are better than ever.

This brilliantly speculative work of popular science focuses on humanity’s long history  of dodging the bullet, as well as on new threats that we may face in years to come. Most  important, it explores how scientific breakthroughs today will help us avoid disasters  tomorrow. From simulating tsunamis, to studying central Turkey’s ancient underground  cities, to designing space elevators to make space colonies cost-effective—scientists and  researchers the world over are discovering the keys to long-term resilience and learning  how humans can choose life over death.

Newitz’s remarkable and fascinating journey through the science of mass extinctions  is a powerful argument about human ingenuity and our ability to change. In a world  populated by doomsday preppers and media commentators obsessively forecasting our  demise, Scatter, Adapt, and Remember is a compelling voice of hope.

About this title

Review

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, May 2013: Global warming, supervolcanoes, asteroid impacts, ice ages, and cosmic radiation. We know that, over millennia, these disasters have already ravaged the earth and its species. In fact, many scientists argue that the earth has undergone five previous mass extinctions, and that at least seventy-five percent of life on earth was exterminated by each. Now guess what? We may be living through the initial groans of the earth’s sixth mass extinction. But that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world--and Annalee Newitz, editor of the popular blog IO9 explains why in her fascinating, fast-paced, and informative book. With chapters like “A Million Year View” and “How to Build a Deathproof City” Newitz argues that we can do a lot to stick around after the apocalypse, even if there’s nothing we can do to alter the earth’s course. --Chris Schluep

About the Author

Annalee Newitz is the founding editor of the science website io9.com. She’s written for publications such as Wired, Popular Science, and the Washington Post. She is the editor of the anthology She’s Such a Geek: Women Write About Science, Technology, and Other Geeky Stuff (2006) and is a former professor of American studies at UC-Berkeley. She lives in San Francisco.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Canada
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0143182889
• ISBN 13: 9780143182887
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 328