Summary Of The Sixth Extinction

The Sixth Extinction is a book about our world’s extinctions and mass extinctions. This book addresses how we are causing another mass extinction that we may fall victim to. The Sixth Extinction has been a very eye-opening read for me. I learned a lot about our world’s past and possible future.

How It Changed Me and Recommendation

The Sixth Extinction has taught me a lot of lessons I don’t want to take for granted. Elizabeth Kolbert sets up the book to where we learn about both modern and ancient extinctions. We soon learn about “The Big Five extinctions.” These mass extinctions happened irregularly. They were sudden losses of a lot of species over the course of millions of years. Then, we learn about the extinctions caused after the appearance

This helps the common reader understand a complex subject. Her technique is to explain the idea in an easily understood manner and include some quotes from her source. Here’s an example:

“Darwin's theory about how species originated doubled as a theory of how they vanished. Extinction and evolution were to each other the warp and weft of life’s fabric, or, if you prefer, two sides of the same coin. “The appearance of new forms and the disappearance of old forms” were, Darwin wrote, “bound together.” Driving both was a struggle for existence,” which rewarded the fit and eliminated the less so.” Kolbert, page 54.

The Sixth Extinction is a morbid topic. After reading the first few chapters, I was depressed and sad that so many animals are becoming and became extinct. However, Kolbert has a good attitude throughout the book. She adds a charisma to her writing, which makes the book less negative. Towards the end of the book, she had a powerful message to her readers and the world. One of my favorite quotes from this book comes from the last page. It says:

“In pushing other species to extinction, humanity is busy sawing off the limb on which it perches.” Paul Ehrlich, page

Another quote I enjoyed was this:

“If you want to think about why humans are so dangerous to other species, you can picture a poacher in Africa carrying an AK-47 or a logger in the Amazon gripping an ax, or, better still, you can picture yourself, holding a book on your lap.” Kolbert, page 266.

Kolbert’s style is unparalleled, powerful, and thought-provoking. This sentence raised my question of “Why can we rein superior to other animals without evolving?”

History and Impact

The Sixth Extinction was published the year of 2014. That same year it was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for general nonfiction. The following year of 2015, it won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction.

The Sixth Extinction has impacted a lot of people because Kolbert investigates new paradigms to the general reader. This book was a New York Times bestseller. Therefore, it has reached the hands of a lot of people and most likely impacted them all in a positive way. Based off some reviews, readers received it with a lot of enthusiasm and fascination. The book taught us lessons about how we damage our world’s wildlife and alter natural