Brown Bag Book Discussion

Paul McNeil will lead a discussion of Elizabeth Kolbert's Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History. Participants are encouraged (but not required) to read the book in advance. Ask for a copy at the library’s information desk.

From Library Journal:

Evidence of a human-made mass extinction seems everywhere around us: long lists of endangered species, high concentrations of carbon dioxide in the air and oceans, and biodiversity losses from deforestation of the tropics. New Yorker staff writer Kolbert traveled all over the world to interview marine biologists, atmospheric scientists, geologists, forest ecologists, and paleontologists about their take on the Sixth Extinction (five other major extinctions  have occurred in Earth's history). Tracing how extinction  itself evolved as a scientific concept, Kolbert discusses the great animal extinctions  of the past as well as the imminent loss of present-day animals such as the Sumatran rhino and the little brown bat. VERDICT The charm of this book (inasmuch as a book about extinction can have charm) lies in Kolbert's hands-on approach to her subject—searching for Panamanian frogs in the dark, hunting for graptolite fossils in Scotland, and observing coral spawning at Australia's Great Barrier Reef. This solid, engaging, multidisciplinary science title should appeal to a broad range of science enthusiasts, particularly those interested in environmental conservation.