The Mass-Extinction Debates
How Science Works in a Crisis

William Glen (Edited by)

9780804722865

Paperback / softback, published 1 August 1994

388 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.526 kg

This book is the first to examine the arguments and behavior of the scientists who have been locked in conflict for a decade over two competing hypotheses for the cause of the mass extinction, some 65 million years ago, of most of life on earth, including the dinosaurs. These papers - by historians, sociologists, philosophers, and participating scientists - provide an exceptional opportunity to observe firsthand the workings of science that in quieter times are hidden from view. The book concludes with an overarching discussion by a balanced panel of embattled scientists and scholars.