
Extinction
A Very Short Introduction
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Narrated by:
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Jonathan Cowley
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By:
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Paul B. Wignall
About this listen
Most people are familiar with the dodo and the dinosaur, but extinction has occurred throughout the history of life, with the result that nearly all the species that have ever existed are now extinct. Today, species are disappearing at an ever increasing rate, while past losses have occurred during several great crises. Issues such as habitat destruction, conservation, climate change, and, during major crises, volacanism and meteorite impact, can all contribute towards the demise of a group.
In this Very Short Introduction, Paul B. Wignall looks at the causes and nature of extinctions, past and present, and the factors that can make a species vulnerable. Summarizing what we know about all of the major and minor extinction events, he examines some of the greatest debates in modern science, such as the relative role of climate and humans in the death of the Pleistocene megafauna, including mammoths and giant ground sloths, and the roles that global warming, ocean acidification, and deforestation are playing in present-day extinctions.
©2019 Paul B. Wignall (P)2019 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, Jim Fraser introduces the concept of forensic science and explains how it is used in the investigation of crime.
By: Jim Fraser
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Fractals
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Kenneth Falconer
- Narrated by: Jason Huggins
- Length: 3 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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From the contours of coastlines to the outlines of clouds, and the branching of trees, fractal shapes can be found everywhere in nature. In this Very Short Introduction, Kenneth Falconer explains the basic concepts of fractal geometry, which produced a revolution in our mathematical understanding of patterns in the 20th century, and explores the wide range of applications in science, and in aspects of economics.
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I have always been skeptical of Fractals
- By Duane Guthrie on 09-29-24
By: Kenneth Falconer
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War and Religion
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Jolyon Mitchel, Joshua Rey
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Is religion a force for war, or a force for peace? Some of the most terrible wars in history have been caused and motivated by religion. Much of the violence that fills our screens today springs from the same source. Yet some of the bravest pacifists have also been deeply religious people, and many of the laws and institutions that work to soften or prevent war have deep religious roots. This Very Short Introduction provides an overview of the history of religion and war, and a framework for analyzing it.
By: Jolyon Mitchel, and others
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Music
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Nicholas Cook
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 4 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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This Very Short Introduction, written with both humor and flair, begins with a sampling of music as human activity and then goes on to consider the slippery phenomenon of how music has become an object of thought. Covering not only Western and classical music, Cook touches on all types from rock to Indonesian music and beyond. Incorporating musical forms from every continent, Music will be enjoyable for beginner and expert alike.
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Wrong Book!!!
- By Aaron Moreno on 09-05-21
By: Nicholas Cook
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The Russian Revolution
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: S.A. Smith
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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This concise, accessible introduction provides an analytical narrative of the main events and developments in Soviet Russia between 1917 and 1936. It examines the impact of the revolution on society as a whole - on different classes, ethnic groups, the army, men and women, youth. Its central concern is to understand how one structure of domination was replaced by another. The book registers the primacy of politics, but situates political developments firmly in the context of massive economic, social, and cultural change.
By: S.A. Smith
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Science Fiction
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: David Seed
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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In this Very Short Introduction, David Seed doesn't offer a history of science fiction, but instead attempts to tie examples of science fiction to different historical moments, in order to demonstrate how science fiction has evolved over time, especially the emergence of science fiction as a popular genre in the 20th century. Seed looks not only at literature, but also at drama and poetry, as well as film. Examining recurrent themes in science fiction, he looks at voyages into space, the concept of the alien and alternative social identities....
By: David Seed
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Empire
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Stephen Howe
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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A great deal of the world's history is the history of empires. Indeed it could be said that all history is colonial history, if one takes a broad enough definition and goes far enough back. Stephen Howe interprets the meaning of the idea of "empire" through the ages, disentangling the multiple uses and abuses of the labels "empire" and "colonialism," etc., and examines the aftermath of imperialism on the contemporary world.
By: Stephen Howe
What listeners say about Extinction
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- Kau
- 12-29-19
A fantastic primer!
This is an excellent primer on extinctions - what we know, how we think we know these things, and what we don’t have a good idea about, including drivers, mechanisms, and processes. In his tone, the author leans somewhat towards the fringe side by giving real estate to discussions such as a cometary driver for the Younger Dryas event (occurring relatively recently ~12,000 years ago) and some other controversial aspects (like the debate on Neanderthals), although, he is very objective in his narration & I believe, balances the evidence rather nicely. There were critical bits about IPCC projections that I found were not wholly necessary, although these appeared to be balanced by appraisals of the advantages that other governmental regulatory bodies have brought to policy (e.g. CITES). Overall, as has been the case for others in the “Very Short Introduction” series, I found this book to be informative and enjoyable! The one downside was the narration which included explicitly spelling out abbreviations such as "e.g." or "P-Tr" which made it somewhat jarring.
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-22-20
A short brief summary of mass extinctions
I was attracted to this book because Paul Wignall is a well known paleontologist, and has written extensively on the Permian / Triassic mass extinction, and other mass extinctions in general. This book is from the "Very short introductions" series, so isn't as in depth as his other works, however it is a nicely distilled summary of what science knows about extinctions.
I enjoyed the summaries of the mass extinction events, however perhaps the most engaging part of the book was when it detailed Holocene mass extinction, and placed it in the context of patterns of biodiversity.
It's a short book, but covers a lot, without being to dense. If you want more on this subject, I would recommend anything by the same author, Peter Ward or Michael Benton.
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