"The pace of species extinction provoked by human rapacity may well now equal the rate of loss in the great mass extinction events that punctuate the history of life. We need a broad perspective on this most portentous of all ecological and evolutionary disasters—and who better than a paleontologist to provide it." —Stephen Jay GouldPaleontologist Peter Ward searches for the clues to catastrophic extinctions and documents signs that a third mass extinction has already begun on our planet. With contagious enthusiasm for fossil-hunting and love of the land and sea, Ward documents the rich diversity of life past and present, bringing home how fragile the balance of life on earth is, while projecting into the future to show the best, and worst, possible scenarios we can hope for—and work toward."The current extinction of species at the hand of Man—a crime that posterity will regard as more pernicious than the burning of the library of Alexandria—is investigated by Peter Ward with rare perception and depth of feeling." —Timothy Ferpus, author of The Mind's Sky"This remarkably lucid presentation of a complex subject is reminiscent of Stephen Jay Gould's books." —Publisher's Weekly