The Mass-Extinction Debates: How Science Works in a Crisis - Paperback

by William Glen (Editor)

This book is the first to examine the arguments and behavior of the scientists who have been locked in conflict for a decade over two competing hypotheses for the cause of the mass extinction, some 65 million years ago, of most of life on earth, including the dinosaurs. These papers - by historians, sociologists, philosophers, and participating scientists - provide an exceptional opportunity to observe firsthand the workings of science that in quieter times are hidden from view. The book concludes with an overarching discussion by a balanced panel of embattled scientists and scholars.

Back Jacket

The science the protagonist pursue is alive with discovery, and their debates vibrate with conflict, right from the editor's opening chapter on the history of the arguments about competing extinction hypotheses and a host of other conflicts that the debates have spawned.