<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: More than "obvious" errors emerge on "Fire on Earth"
Review: A previous reader comments about missing slashes in formulas and excessive or lesser number of zeros in quantitative estimations of for example the Tunguska impactor on this book and it is true that this type of mistakes are common in the text but I found more serious errors in the following pages(these refer to the hardcover edition of the book): a)On page 32: "standard dating techniques involving measurements of radiactive argon in the rocks showed that the (Manson)crater had formed exactly 65 Myr ago". False. We know since 1993 that a careful application of this same technique to this crater reveal "exactly" 73.8 Myr for this formation. b)On the same page:"...geologists have also found another crater (Popigai)65 Myr old". Not true. Geologically Popigai is around 35 Myr old. c)Errors (a) and (b) conduce to the statement on page 33: "...three pieces of interplanetary debris...strike simultaneosly in Yucatan, Iowa and northern Siberia". Similar mistakes to (a) and (b) are repeated on page 133. d)On page 57:"...it was certainly(the explosive power of the Sikhote-Alin impact) at least 100,000 Kilotonnes". False. A minimun of at least 100 kilotonnes is enough for explain the characteristics observed of this impact. e)On the same page:"...in April 1972, came a genuine close encounter(the Montana fireball).False.The genuine Montana fireball close encounter came on August 10, 1972. f)On page 69:"Venus,..spins.. with each day lasting a year".Not true.Venus spins with each day lasting 243.01 Earth's days and each venusian year lasting 224.701 Earth's days. These are mistakes that I am aware of and do not diminish any other virtues that readers may find in the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the beef?
Review: Meteoritics and impact phenomena are a fascination of mine and, with some anticipation, I purchased this book. I was disappointed. The treatment of impacts and their consequences was cursory for the most part and frequently conclusionary rather then illuminating. While the book contained a few facts not found in other, similar volumes, I felt book was written from hunger rather than love, if you will. The science and logic were frequently off the mark, in my view. Not the sort of book one would read for an in depth understanding of the topic.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the beef?
Review: Meteoritics and impact phenomena are a fascination of mine and, with some anticipation, I purchased this book. I was disappointed. The treatment of impacts and their consequences was cursory for the most part and frequently conclusionary rather then illuminating. While the book contained a few facts not found in other, similar volumes, I felt book was written from hunger rather than love, if you will. The science and logic were frequently off the mark, in my view. Not the sort of book one would read for an in depth understanding of the topic.
Rating: 
Summary: The Best Book Yet About Impacts & Extinctions
Review: People have trouble with long time scales. We can't experience anything longer than the time we live, and have to resort to extrapolation and imaginative analogies. But happenings on very large time scales--geological and astronomical time scales--aren't required to accord with human experience. The earth looks stable to us because as long as we can remember, it has remained relatively constant. Yet the geological record proves to us that the earth has at times been scarred by impacts from asteroids and other space debris. John and Mary Gribbin examine this matter and its consequences for the human race in *Fire on Earth*. The book looks at some of the physics and history behind collisions on earth, and the descriptions of the effects of the collisions make nuclear holocaust seem like a dribble in a pond. Yet, from the very beginning of the book, errors make reading a distracting act indeed. Another reader has already pointed out the missing slash in the equation for kinetic energy, changing 1/2 to 12. There are more inconsistencies: the mass of the famed Tunguska object is given variously as 100,000 tonnes or 1,000,000 tonnes, and yet later in the book, an object that is "substantially larger" than the Tunguska object has an estimated mass of 1,000 tonnes. Huh? Similar errors dot the book. A more serious weakness has to do with the end of the book. After describing the geological, ecological, and meteorological consequences of an impact, the Gribbins attempt to explain wars and social change as the indirect results of comet or asteroid impacts. This doesn't ring true, or at the very least, the Gribbins don't make a very convincing case for it. This penultimate chapter reminds one of lawyers arguing a case, where circumstances are very carefully assembled to support an assertion, circumstances that give the impression of strength, but that fall over under the slightest breath of opposition. This book isn't intended to be an in-depth, scientific examination of impacts; the Gribbins wrote a popular book on an increasingly popular subject. But careless proofreading and a runaway imagination mar the book. Enough information is here to satisfy many; but for a more objective survey of the same subject, consider Gerrit Verschuur's *Impact*, or even Carl Sagan's *Comet*. The Gribbins have the style, as evinced by the long list of popular science books they've written, but this one just doesn't measure up.
Rating:
Summary: Accessible and accurate - just what I needed!
Review: Perhaps you have heard that a meteor strike may have killed the dinosaurs. Or, perhaps you have heard that a meteor struck the Earth in Siberia in 1908. But, did you know that another one struck Siberia in 1948, causing a cold war scramble on both sides of the globe? Or, that Colorado had a near miss just a few years ago? You would if you had read FIRE ON EARTH. I discovered the Gribbins' book at the public library, but soon realized I would need my own copy (Thanks, Amazon!). It was perfect for me. I am writing a novel that is set a couple of decades after an asteroid strike. I needed a resource that would give me the the science of, and knowledge of, asteroid strikes on Earth. Yet, it had to be understandable by a non-scientist. Here is a book that tells of the MANY impacts on the Earth over the past several million years, some even in our own lifetimes! These accounts are both fascinating and mysterious. And, as hard as it may be to imagine, they have found a way to inject humor into the telling. The authors have the knack of presenting very complex scientific information and concepts in a way that almost anyone can understand. Not only that; they make it a fun read, too!
Rating:
Summary: Accessible and accurate - just what I needed!
Review: Perhaps you have heard that a meteor strike may have killed the dinosaurs. Or, perhaps you have heard that a meteor struck the Earth in Siberia in 1908. But, did you know that another one struck Siberia in 1948, causing a cold war scramble on both sides of the globe? Or, that Colorado had a near miss just a few years ago? You would if you had read FIRE ON EARTH. I discovered the Gribbins' book at the public library, but soon realized I would need my own copy (Thanks, Amazon!). It was perfect for me. I am writing a novel that is set a couple of decades after an asteroid strike. I needed a resource that would give me the the science of, and knowledge of, asteroid strikes on Earth. Yet, it had to be understandable by a non-scientist. Here is a book that tells of the MANY impacts on the Earth over the past several million years, some even in our own lifetimes! These accounts are both fascinating and mysterious. And, as hard as it may be to imagine, they have found a way to inject humor into the telling. The authors have the knack of presenting very complex scientific information and concepts in a way that almost anyone can understand. Not only that; they make it a fun read, too!
<< 1 >>
| 
