Extinction: A History and Prospectus

Catalog description

This course will focus on three major themes: the discovery of the earth’s deep history, for which the concept of extinction played a major role, the very long history of extinction itself, and current controversies over the role of humans in causing extinction. The concept of extinction was established in modern science only in the late eighteenth century. For most of the planet’s history extinctions were caused by natural events—volcanic eruptions, asteroid collisions, climate change, and life itself, as when living things have altered the composition of the oceans, the soil​,​ or the atmosphere. Are anthropogenic extinctions “natural” as well? We will examine historical and recent debates on this question along with such topics as the role of religion in establishing the concept of the earth’s history, catastrophism versus uniformitarianism, the relationship between evolution and extinction, evidence and explanation in the earth sciences, controversies over asteroid collisions, and current debates over “invasive” species. Readings will include original works by Cuvier, Lyell, and Darwin, among others, as well as recent works by historians, philosophers, conservationists, ecologists, journalists, and evolutionary biologists, such as Martin Rudwick, Stephen Gould, Peter Brannen, Jan Zalasiewicz, Ursula Heise, ChrisThomas, and Elizabeth Kolbert.