false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180286926m/1020063.jpg 1020063 6 Did the Earth once undergo a super ice age, one that froze the entire planet from the poles to the equator? In <b>Snowball Earth</b>, gifted writer Gabrielle Walker has crafted an intriguing global adventure story, following maverick scientist Paul Hoffman&#8217;s quest to prove a theory so audacious and profound that it is shaking the world of earth sciences to its core.<br><br>In lyrical prose that brings each remote and alluring locale vividly to life, Walker takes us on a thrilling natural history expedition to witness firsthand the supporting evidence Hoffman has pieced together. That evidence, he argues, shows that 700 million years ago the Earth did indeed freeze over completely, becoming a giant &#8220;snowball,&#8221; in the worst climatic catastrophe in history. Even more startling is his assertion that, instead of ending life on Earth, this global deep freeze was the trigger for the Cambrian Explosion, the hitherto unexplained moment in geological time when a glorious profusion of complex life forms first emerged from the primordial ooze.<br><br>In a story full of intellectual intrigue, we follow the irascible but brilliant Hoffman and a supporting cast of intrepid geologists as they scour the planet, uncovering clue after surprising clue. We travel to a primeval lagoon at Shark Bay in western Australia, where dolphins cavort with swimmers every morning at seven and &#8220;living rocks&#8221; sprout out of the water like broccoli heads; to the desolate and forbidding ice fields of a tiny Arctic archipelago seven hundred miles north of Norway; to the surprising fossil beds that decorate Newfoundland&#8217;s foggy and windswept coastline; and on to the superheated salt pans of California&#8217;s Death Valley.<br><br>Through the contours of these rich and varied landscapes Walker teaches us to read the traces of geological time with expert eyes, and we marvel at the stunning feats of resilience and renewal our remarkable planet is capable of. <b>Snowball Earth i</b>s science writing at its most gripping and enlightening. 1006190 18 3 2003 Snowball Earth: The Story of the Great Global Catastrophe That Spawned Life as We Know It total:35|5:6|4:13|3:11|2:4|1:1| 35 124 58 9 4 0 false false Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed May 13 04:02:26 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 04:17:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 13:35:06 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 13:42:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Feb 26 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 09:32:20 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 09:52:13 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue May 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 16 19:58:19 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 16 19:59:24 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Aug 08 06:35:25 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 08 06:38:02 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Sep 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 12 07:16:27 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 26 21:35:47 -0700 2008 Snowball Earth captures the mystery of geology as a field, the challenge of a new theory, and most importantly the process of refining and idea from something rough into a mature coherent thought.

Dr. Walker does ...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Jun 28 10:47:36 -0700 2008 Sun Dec 09 11:54:41 -0800 2007 Sat Jun 28 10:47:36 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Thu May 08 14:37:19 -0700 2008 Thu May 08 14:38:35 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Thu Oct 18 12:36:06 -0700 2007 Sat Dec 22 16:47:00 -0800 2007 ]]> 5 0 false false Sat Nov 21 22:26:09 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 21 22:26:09 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Oct 26 07:23:21 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 07:23:21 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 07 21:48:20 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 07 21:48:20 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 07 10:57:37 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 07 10:57:37 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Aug 04 17:57:40 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 17:57:40 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Aug 02 11:20:23 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 11:20:23 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Jul 15 07:01:47 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 07:01:47 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Tue Jul 14 07:18:19 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 07:18:19 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Jul 08 11:46:12 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 11:46:12 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Jul 02 17:28:10 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 17:23:03 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 17:28:10 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu Jun 11 09:16:41 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 09:16:41 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1020063