Elizabeth Kolbert

Over the last half billion years, there have been five major mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on Earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around the cataclysm is us. In this book the author tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species...

That man should have dominion “over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” is a prophecy that has hardened into fact. So pervasive are human impacts on the planet that it’s said we live in a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene. In Under a White Sky, Elizabeth Kolbert takes a hard look at the new world we are creating. Along the way, she meets biologists who are trying to preserve the world’s rarest...

"The dignified seahorse, the billowing jelly, and the stealthy octopus: We long to see every aspect of their graceful forms. For more than a decade, celebrated nature photographer David Littschwager has traveled the world to reveal their mysterious beauty. His extraordinary images will bring you closer than ever to these colorful and enigmatic creatures." -- Back cover In this ode to some of the most wondrous species on Earth, a celebrated photographer...