Product Description
Chronicling five times in the history of the earth in which more than half of all living species disappeared in a geological instant, a geological study states that we are on the brink of a sixth mass extinction and presents supporting evidence. Reprint. NYT.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 20 reviews)

As relevant today as when it was written by Redgecko (USA)

4 Stars
August 11, 2009
Not wanting to taint my impressions as I read, I purposely avoided reading reviews of this book until I had finished. When I finally did read the reviews, I was very disappointed that no reviews of this interesting book had been posted for almost 2 years. What a shame. Richard Leakey is one of the world's most famous living scientists and led an amazing life. He gives just a hint of that life in the first chapter and you can read more on Wikipedia and news sources. I have even more respect for Leakey now then before I started the book, if for no other reason than he gives no indication of the substantial personal and political turmoil that he has endured but sticks to the job of discussing anthropogenic species extinction. The man lost both of his legs in a small plane crash in 1993 and sabotage was suspected due to his firm stand against elephant poaching as head of Kenya's Wildlife Conservation and Management Department But he never mentions this or uses his fame to demean his detractors. He just goes on with his career as a paleontologist, conservationist and politician, never whining about his fate. What a great man and role model! Now, about the book. It is dated in some ways, as any book about conservation written 15 years ago will be, but the core of the book remains accurate and true--unfortunately things haven't changed much in that time. Amazon and a couple of reviewers have written decent overviews of the book and I see no need to summarize the book in detail but will make a few observations. It is interesting to note that in 1995, the three major causes for species extinction were (1) hunting, trapping and other forms of direct, purposeful human exploitation; (2) the impact of invasive species, e.g., the extirpation of 90% of indigenous Hawaiian birds by man-introduced invaders; and, (3) habitat destruction. But no mention is made of the devastation of ecosystems by man-induced climate change, though it was no longer the elephant in the room even way back in the 90's. E.O. Wilson gave this topic some attention in his 1992 book, The Diversity Of Life, and discussed the greenhouse effect, coral bleaching and other related topics. Leakey references Wilson's book, but I doubt that he read it but merely perused it for selected material, such as the interesting species distribution graphic which he borrows from Wilson's book on page 115. I deducted one star from my rating of the book because of this serious omission. Though Leakey takes a mild stand against sport hunting in later chapters, it would have been more consistent of him to acknowledge his abuse of animals in his youth. Though he doesn't acknowledge actually hunting animals himself, he does say that he led safaris and trapped animals in his teens and 20's. Since this is as bad as actually pulling the trigger, I thought that a small apology or explanation of this moral inconsistency was in order. I especially liked the early chapters because I have an intensive interest in paleontology and he does a nice job on the topic. Another reviewer pointed out that all of this material has been covered in other books, but since I'm not a computer with a perfect memory, I like refreshing my knowledge with the viewpoints of numerous authors. Leakey does an excellent job explaining why the fossil record proves that man was an accident of history. As another reviewer pointed out, Leakey was remiss in not digressing on the exponential rise in human population and the importance of birth control in developing nations, such as Kenya, where Leakey lives. In this regard, The Sixth Extinction is like many books in that they are a "call to arms" but present no solutions. It's a pity that he didn't digress a bit on solutions because he was good at that in his political posts in Kenya. His solutions were so effective that he lost both legs because of them. I would love to see this book updated--would buy it in a heartbeat. In that revision, it would be interesting to read what he has to say about the impact of climate change on Kenyan species. Now, climate change is probably worse than Leakey's top three reasons for species extinction because it is the one that we have the least control over. Scientists say that if we reduced our carbon footprint to zero today, the effects of the high amount of CO2 that man has already emitted into the atmosphere will continue to adversely effect existing ecosystems for at least 1000 years. His other books are good too. Check out the Making Of Mankind (out of print) and The Origin Of Humankind.

Looking bleak by Cecil Bothwell (Asheville, NC USA)

4 Stars
November 27, 2007
In the history of life on earth there have been five great extinction spasms - the best known being the evaporation of the dinosaurs following the calamitous arrival of a large interstellar object. Based on the latest discoveries in evolutionary biology and ecology, paleontologist Leakey believes we humans are creating a sixth such catastrophe in which fully half of the earth's species may die out during the next century. He sees no reason to assume that humans are immune to the debacle. Included is a stinging rebuke of those who defend hunting as part of sound wildlife management. Quite readable, non-technical, scary.

Review of the Sixth Extinction

3 Stars
January 03, 2007
I thought the book was very informational, but boring. There was a lot of great insight into evolution and how Homo Sapiens are causing and in the midst of the sixth extincition. It's a lttle outdated, referring to many events in 1989. Leakey also draws upon the work of many great scientists, including Charles Darwin. It also gives a lot of background to the 5 major extinctions and the Cambrian explosion. It's also really drawn out and seems to get off topic. I am 16.

Sixth Extinction Review

4 Stars
February 28, 2006
This book had a really interesting beginning (about the first 3/4 of the book), and had a lot of information about the past. It described past extinctions (especially the five mass extinctions), the way different species have evolved, and similar topics. There was not only facts and statistics, but Leakey also included little stories that tied into whatever he was describing. The last section of the book wasn't as interesting, and it talked more about how humans are becoming the cause of the sixth big extinction. It makes you realize how bad the situation is becoming, and that we need to do something soon. Highly recommended.

Sixth Extinction Group Review

3 Stars
February 27, 2006
The book was just average because ofa few flaws. The book seems to be a collection of random thoughts at times, sometimes confusing the reader. The author also focused on some small aspects and made an interesting story boring. A strong part of the book is the depth in which he explains biodiversity. This leaves the reader with information they did not have before they read. We recommend this book only for those interested in the environment.

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