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Nemesis: The Death-Star and Other Theories of Mass Extinction
Proposes a controversial new theory explaining the extinction of the dinosaurs that involves the possible existence of a "death star" that causes comet showers every twenty-six million years
- GenresScience
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1985
15 people want to read
About the author
Donald Goldsmith
54 books28 followersDonald Goldsmith is an astrophysicist, popular science author and screenwriter. He is the president of Interstellar Media. He is also the winner of the 1995 American Astronomical Society's Annenberg Foundation Award for Education and the Klumpke-Roberts Prize for his contributions to the public understanding of astronomy.
He received his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley in 1969.He taught at Stony Brook University before becoming a full-time popularizer, and has written, co-written, or edited a number of popular science books.
His book "Origins," co-written with Neil Tyson, was the companion volume to the four-hour PBS series with the same title. Dr. Goldsmith worked on Carl Sagan's "COSMOS" series, and on Neil Tyson's series of the same name, and was the science editor and co-writer of the six-part PBS series "THE ASTRONOMERS." He has written many popular articles for journals such as Scientific American, Natural History, Discover, and Astronomy.
He received his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley in 1969.He taught at Stony Brook University before becoming a full-time popularizer, and has written, co-written, or edited a number of popular science books.
His book "Origins," co-written with Neil Tyson, was the companion volume to the four-hour PBS series with the same title. Dr. Goldsmith worked on Carl Sagan's "COSMOS" series, and on Neil Tyson's series of the same name, and was the science editor and co-writer of the six-part PBS series "THE ASTRONOMERS." He has written many popular articles for journals such as Scientific American, Natural History, Discover, and Astronomy.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 5, 2020
Not what I thought it was going to be. I liked it none the less. It may be a bit outdated but it does give you something to think about as to why things have happened. Would like to see this book updated for I found it easy to read as a lay person. The book explained the theories in a way that anyone could understand. At least I feel that way.
February 20, 2017
First off, this book has a seriously good title. How can you not want to read a book with a title like that?
The rest of the book doesn't quite live up to it. Don't get me wrong: I did like it, for the most part. The writing was clear and explanatory, even if it did get a little bogged down when describing the statistical reasoning behind some of the cyclical extinction arguments. It's just a very hard title to live up to.
That being said, the book's a few decades old now, so how the theories it describes fit in with astronomical understanding today is something I just don't know. I'll probably be Googling after writing this, though, and that should say something - that the book interested me enough to Google, at any rate. Edit: I've looked it up, it appears the Nemesis theory today is pretty much assumed to be unreliable. Oh well, interesting idea while it lasted, and yay science for being self-correcting!
The rest of the book doesn't quite live up to it. Don't get me wrong: I did like it, for the most part. The writing was clear and explanatory, even if it did get a little bogged down when describing the statistical reasoning behind some of the cyclical extinction arguments. It's just a very hard title to live up to.
That being said, the book's a few decades old now, so how the theories it describes fit in with astronomical understanding today is something I just don't know. I'll probably be Googling after writing this, though, and that should say something - that the book interested me enough to Google, at any rate. Edit: I've looked it up, it appears the Nemesis theory today is pretty much assumed to be unreliable. Oh well, interesting idea while it lasted, and yay science for being self-correcting!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews