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Title: Rain of Iron and Ice: The Very Real Threat of Comet and Asteroid Bombardment (Helix Books) by John S. Lewis ISBN: 0-201-15494-3 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: April, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.71 (7 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Don't worry about my review -- just read the book
Comment: This fine book is designed primarily with one goal in mind. Aimed at a popular audience, it is written to counteract the unfortunately widespread myth that no one has ever been killed, or will ever be killed, by a falling asteroid or meteor. John Lewis reworks this statement, reminding us that the way it should be phrased is as follows: "no one as ever been killed or hurt by a meteor or asteroid in the presence of a Western, 20th/21st century journalist or meteoriticist."
This book demonstrates, through statistics and anecdotes, that it is more than just a question of occasional asteroids like the one that killed the dinosaurs, or like the ones in the asteroid movies from the summer of 1999. There is an extremely wide range of asteroids, meteors, and other random space-rocks, of all different shapes, sizes, and compositions. The ones large enough to do fairly serious damage land all over the planet, and substantially more often than many of us tend to believe.
Chapter 14 alone is worth the price of the book. In it, Dr. Lewis shows us computer simulations of several likely asteroid strikes. Let me clarify that -- he presents the results of computer simulations of 10 randomly computer-generated "centuries" on Earth, and what the statistical likelihood of pretty awful asteroid collisions are in each century. Many of the simulations are pretty terrifying. The one that opens the chapter, taking place in the Phillipines, is one of the most horrifying things you'll ever read.
Another valuable part of the book is the table in chapter 13, which lists dozens of damaging asteroid or meteor strikes throughout recorded history, all over the world. Stories like this crop up throughout the book, they aren't just in chapter 13.
The intent of this book is to raise public awareness. It succeeds dramatically. Please buy a copy, and get copies for some of your friends. Two thumbs up.
Rating: 5
Summary: The best book for the lay reader
Comment: This book is a natural five-star. It clearly and eloquently discusses the threat from asteroids and comets. The scenario of a SMALL asteroid falling in the Philippine Sea should be eye-opening to even the most jaded. Also especially worth reading are the chapters on Mercury and on computer created scenarios of falls over a century's time. The book maintains a steady pace throughout, and is a must for anyone interested in meteoritics.
Rating: 4
Summary: It "Rocks"
Comment: __________________
The need for radioastronomy to detect near Earth objects on the day-side is documented in this book. Amateur astronomers have a real opportunity to potentially save all life on Earth. Despite the efforts expended (mostly since 1994, after the impact of the fragments of Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter) the estimate is that 90 per cent of nearby asteroids are unknown. As David Morrison has warned, nothing can be told about the unknown majority, and the odds are that there will be no warning.
At least four large impacts occurred during the 20th century, the best known being the Tunguska object in 1908. I was a bit startled to learn of the small 1919 impact on Lake Michigan (p 159) having never heard anything about this from elderly folklore-prone relatives.
Perhaps most useful is Lewis' discussion of the various myths about our safety from such impacts.
See also "Night Comes to the Cretaceous" by James Lawrence Powell.
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Title: Impact!: The Threat of Comets and Asteroids by Gerrit L. Verschuur ISBN: 0195119193 Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr on Demand Pub. Date: November, 1997 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Comet and Asteroid Impact Hazards on a Populated Earth: Computer Modeling by John S. Lewis ISBN: 0124467601 Publisher: Academic Press Pub. Date: September, 1999 List Price(USD): $54.95 |
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Title: T. Rex and the Crater of Doom by Walter Alvarez ISBN: 0375702105 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: August, 1998 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The End of the Dinosaurs : Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions by Charles Frankel ISBN: 0521474477 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: October, 1999 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: Mining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and Planets by John S. Lewis ISBN: 0201328194 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: September, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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