T. Rex and the Crater of Doom

Written by Walter Alvarez and Carl Zimmer

Narrated by Joel Richards

Sixty-five million years ago, a comet or asteroid larger than Mount Everest slammed into the Earth, inducing an explosion equivalent to the detonation of a hundred million hydrogen bombs. Vaporized detritus blasted through the atmosphere upon impact, falling back to Earth around the globe. Disastrous environmental consequences ensued: a giant tsunami, continent-scale wildfires, darkness, and cold, followed by sweltering greenhouse heat. When conditions returned to normal, half the plant and animal genera on Earth had perished.

This horrific chain of events is now widely accepted as the solution to a great scientific mystery: what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs? Walter Alvarez, one of the Berkeley scientists who discovered evidence of the impact, tells the story behind the development of the initially controversial theory. It is a saga of high adventure in remote locations, of arduous data collection and intellectual struggle, of long periods of frustration ended by sudden breakthroughs, of friendships made and lost, and of the exhilaration of discovery that forever altered our understanding of Earth's geological history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Feb 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781541417007

Reviews for T. Rex and the Crater of Doom

[moekane_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Elegant and thrilling play-by-play from theorizing to the search for evidence in the fossil record to the identification of the meteor/comet crater off Yucatan; it's at once a great detective story and a great exposition of the scientific method. The language is clear and the science easy to follow. A great read, loved it.

[whitewavedarling · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the last quarter of the 20th Century, Walter Alvarez was one of a select few scientists who had a close hand in discovering the truth about how and why the dinosaurs disappeared some 65 million years ago, and this book recounts that long journey. Detailing what was once believed, and seemingly understood, and moving on to the theories and discoveries that changed those understandings completely, Alvarez takes readers through the earth-shattering change of moving from a sure belief in gradualism--the world changing gradually, including in regard to extinctions--to the point at which he and others came to have faith, instead, in the Impact Theory.Beginning with the tragedy of the mass extinction of T-Rex and so many of the other dinosaurs which called earth home 65 million years ago, Alvarez moves through what is essentially a scientific mystery, exploring and explaining the false starts, the twists, and all of the assumptions, understandings, and discoveries which eventually led to not only faith in the impact theory, but to the discovery of the site of the impact at the Chicxulub Crater.This is more than a book for people who have a lingering fascination for the dinosaurs they learned about as children. This a book of science, discovery, and patience--and, more than anything, a journey to discover one of our longest-standing mysteries.Recommended, of course.

[nosajeel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As the first geology book I've read, I found it quite interesting -- even if I wasn't convinced that even with the qualification this sentence could possibly be true: "perhaps the discipline best prepared to lead science into the holistic world of the twenty-first century."

Part of what makes the book so interesting is that it takes you down the cul-de-sacs recounting the promising leads and techniques that did not pan out. The best chapter for this was

[patiencefortitude · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I feel like I didn't do this book justice. Have I forgotten how to read nonfiction, how to take my time instead of whizzing through and getting the big picture?
I know I got impatient and missed a few details. But once the book shifted from background information (a little plodding, a little daunting) to mounting discoveries about the crater... then things got much more fun. Kinda like CSI: Paleontology! Much more my speed.

Still, it reminds me that I don't read enough nonfiction, and that I've become a very impatient person.

[markberonte · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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 Yucatán 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.

[jasonlf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As the first geology book I've read, I found it quite interesting -- even if I wasn't convinced that even with the qualification this sentence could possibly be true: "perhaps the discipline best prepared to lead science into the holistic world of the twenty-first century."Part of what makes the book so interesting is that it takes you down the cul-de-sacs recounting the promising leads and techniques that did not pan out. The best chapter for this was “Iridium” about how the author and his colleagues discovered a layer of iridium at multiple sites around the world at the KT boundary that established that a giant asteroid or comet hit earth 65 million years ago.Given that the book was published in 1997 it is not exactly up-to-date or cutting edge. But it is an interesting history of science and an introduction to some basic issues in the geology of crater impacts and other issues – not to mention the extinction of the dinosaurs, which given the geological perspective mostly gets short shrift.