• About this Book
• About the Author

Written by Walter Alvarez

• Format: Trade Paperback, 208 pages
• Publisher: Vintage
• On Sale: July 28, 1998
• Price: $13.95
• ISBN: 978-0-375-70210-5 (0-375-70210-5)

about this book

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

Sixty-five million years ago, a comet or asteroid larger than Mt. Everest slammed into the Earth, causing an explosion equivalent to the detonation of a hundred million hydrogen bombs. Vaporized impactor and debris from the impact site were blasted out through the atmosphere, falling back to Earth all around the globe. Terrible environmental disasters ensued, including a giant tsunami, continent-scale wildfires, darkness, and cold, followed by sweltering greenhouse heat. When conditions returned to normal, half the genera of plants and animals on Earth had perished.

This horrific story is now widely accepted as the solution to a great scientific murder mystery--what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs?  In T. rex and the Crater of Doom, the story of the scientific detective work that went into solving the mystery is told by geologist Walter Alvarez, one of the four Berkeley scientists who discovered the first evidence for the giant impact.  It is a saga of high adventure in remote parts of the world, of patient data collection, of lonely intellectual struggle, of long periods of frustration ended by sudden breakthroughs, of intense public debate, of friendships made or lost, of the exhilaration of discovery, and of delight as a fascinating story unfolded.

Controversial and widely attacked during the 1980s, the impact theory received confirmation from the discovery of the giant impact crater it predicted, buried deep beneath younger strata at the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula.  The Chicxulub Crater was found by Mexican geologists in 1950 but remained almost unknown to scientists elsewhere until 1991, when it was recognized as the largest impact crater on this planet, dating precisely from the time of the great extinction sixty-five million years ago. Geology and paleontology, sciences that long held that all changes in Earth history have been calm and gradual, have now been forced to recognize the critical role played by rare but devastating catastrophes like the impact that killed the dinosaurs.


PRAISE FOR T. rex and the Crater of Doom:

"T. rex and the Crater of Doom is a scientific detective story par excellence, told with charm and candor by the chief protagonist himself.  We now understand that evolution and extinction go hand in hand--thanks in no small measure to the spectacular success of the Alvarez team in unraveling the mysteries of that great extinction 65 million years ago, when the dinosaurs and so many other marine and terrestrial species literally bit the dust."
--Niles Eldredge, author of Fossils: The Evolution and Extinction of Species and Dominion

"Solid science...a clear and efficient exposition that conveys plenty of cogent detail while keeping an eye on the subtle interplay of thought, action and personality that makes scientific research such arresting human behavior."
--Timothy Ferris, The New York Times Book Review

"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

"The story of one of the greatest adventures of twentieth-century science, told by the central figure.  It is a great read for scientists and non-scientist alike."
--Dr. Richard Muller, author of Nemesis: The Death Star


CONTENTS

1. Armageddon

2. Ex Libro Lapidum Historia Mundi

3. Gradualist versus Catastrophist

4. Iridium

5. The Search for the Impact Site

6. The Crater of Doom

7. The World after Chicxulub