Climate change! Plague! Nukes! Aliens! Doomsday comets! Super volcanoes!The human race is heading toward extinction.
Humans have had a good run on this planet, but nothing lasts forever. One day, the sun will rise on a world without us. A comet could wipe us out. An unstoppable virus might now be awakening in thawing tundra. The power sources that make civilization possible have perhaps already damaged our atmosphere beyond repair. Hidden bunkers and prowling submarines house nuclear missiles that can, in a single moment, engulf our world in flames.
Is there hope? No!
Well... maybe. Humans have a good track record of holding back the apocalypse. We’ve cured diseases, turned deserts into croplands, and mostly tamed our warlike natures. But for every danger that falls, new ones arise. This book looks at the progress we’ve made so far and considers our odds against the looming threat of... Thirteen Dooms!
Sample passages:
"The astounding beauty of matter is that it’s both comprehensible and obedient. No priests or mystics are required for understanding or mastery. In science, humankind has invented a system of truth seeking that’s freely available to anyone who wishes to investigate the natural world."
"The unstoppable unraveling of our entire universe isn’t a flaw in our reality; it is our reality. All the forces that lead to certain destruction are the same forces that made our existence possible. If gravity didn’t warp and compress matter to the point that atoms are fused together, there would be no stars. If stars didn’t burn through their fuels and eventually explode, there would be no elements other than hydrogen and perhaps a little helium. Acts of terrifying, unfathomable destruction, forces powerful enough to tear stars apart, are the ultimate origin, of you, of me, and everything."
"The elements you’re built from might have been forged inside of stars, but the chemicals you’re made of are mostly assembled from dead things. You’re built of dead meat and dead plants. And don’t feel too bad about all the once living things you’ve needed to devour; at this moment, there’s an entire ecosystem busily devouring you."
Humans have had a good run on this planet, but nothing lasts forever. One day, the sun will rise on a world without us. A comet could wipe us out. An unstoppable virus might now be awakening in thawing tundra. The power sources that make civilization possible have perhaps already damaged our atmosphere beyond repair. Hidden bunkers and prowling submarines house nuclear missiles that can, in a single moment, engulf our world in flames.
Is there hope? No!
Well... maybe. Humans have a good track record of holding back the apocalypse. We’ve cured diseases, turned deserts into croplands, and mostly tamed our warlike natures. But for every danger that falls, new ones arise. This book looks at the progress we’ve made so far and considers our odds against the looming threat of... Thirteen Dooms!
Sample passages:
"The astounding beauty of matter is that it’s both comprehensible and obedient. No priests or mystics are required for understanding or mastery. In science, humankind has invented a system of truth seeking that’s freely available to anyone who wishes to investigate the natural world."
"The unstoppable unraveling of our entire universe isn’t a flaw in our reality; it is our reality. All the forces that lead to certain destruction are the same forces that made our existence possible. If gravity didn’t warp and compress matter to the point that atoms are fused together, there would be no stars. If stars didn’t burn through their fuels and eventually explode, there would be no elements other than hydrogen and perhaps a little helium. Acts of terrifying, unfathomable destruction, forces powerful enough to tear stars apart, are the ultimate origin, of you, of me, and everything."
"The elements you’re built from might have been forged inside of stars, but the chemicals you’re made of are mostly assembled from dead things. You’re built of dead meat and dead plants. And don’t feel too bad about all the once living things you’ve needed to devour; at this moment, there’s an entire ecosystem busily devouring you."
Used availability for James Maxey's Thirteen Dooms