Snowball Earth: The Story of the Global Catastrophe That Spawned Life as We Know it [Hardcover]

The idea that the Earth has been completely frozen over by ice and snow might seem fanciful and deeply worrying, if true. Gabrielle Walker's Snowball Earth is the remarkable story of the theory, the evidence for it, the geologists who are behind it and those against it. The bad news is that it is highly likely to be true. As Gabrielle Walker expertly explains for the general reader, there have indeed been several such runaway glacial events. Polar ice caps, continental ice sheets and sea ice grew to such an extent that they all met in the tropics and our green and pleasant planet was whited out.

The good news is that it all happened a very long time ago, the last time around 650 million years ago and is highly unlikely to happen again, even in the distant future. Snowball Earth theory has been gathering strength over the last few decades and is one of the most remarkable discoveries in Earth science at the end of the last century. You might wonder why such major Earth encompassing and catastrophic events have gone unnoticed for so long. Well, it is a complicated and interesting story and Gabrielle Walker is well qualified to tell it as she has a science doctorate and has worked as an editor for Nature and New Scientist, so she has seen this idea grow over the years. More importantly, as she acknowledges has been a Snowball Earth groupie attending conferences, field trips, lectures and campsites around the world. Consequently, she has been at the coal face, seen the critical rocks which are now scattered around the world, thanks to an ongoing process known as plate tectonics which opens and closes oceans and shuffles the continents about. Walker has talked to the scientists involved about the evidence and the problems of their interpretation, so we hear directly from the mouths of the various horses. It's a fascinating story, well told and there are notes and further reading for those that want more details and a very useful index. --Douglas Palmer

"Walker does a superb job ...Her prose, like her story, is likely to engage both scientists and general readers equally."

'An engrossing book on the emergence of a stunning new account of events on our primordial planet ... fascinating' Sunday Telegraph 'Riveting in its vivid portrayal of the great icy catastrophes which may have gripped our planet ... both the geological and the human story are brilliantly told' Oliver Sacks 'This is a story worth telling ... Walker is an ideal person to tell it ... Racy and pacey, with a focus on the people involved ... A very entertaining read' Independent 'She takes a cold topic, and creates a warm, readable story' Ireland on Sunday --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

This is a story worth telling. Racy and pacey ... a very entertaining read --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Fascinating ... Walker tells a great story brilliantly --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Hoffman is fortunate to have a writer as gifted as Walker to document his extraordinary intellectual adventures --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Did the Earth once undergo a super ice age, one that froze the entire planet? A global adventure story and a fascinating account of scientist Paul Hoffman's quest to prove his maverick 'Snowball Earth' theory, this is science writing at its most gripping. In "Snowball Earth", Gabrielle Walker takes us on a thrilling natural history expedition in search of supporting evidence for the audacious theory which argues that the Earth experienced a climatic cataclysm 700 million years ago that froze the entire planet from the poles to the equator.

"Paul Hoffman is a charismatic genius who has devoted himlself to proving what will be one of the most important scientific theories of the 21st century. He is fortunate to have a writer as gifted as Gabrielle Walker to document his extraordinary intellectual adventures. This is a ascinating story, brilliantly told."
Simon Singh, author of Fermat's Last Theorem and The Code Book

"Snowball Earth is more than a great geological detective story--it's a great illustration of how science works. Scientists don't simply have the truth handed to them. They dream up wild ideas and then fight for them tooth
and nail, while other scientists try to show that they're wrong. Gabrielle Walker gives us a frontrow seat for one of the most fascinating of these battles being found anywhere in science today."
Carl Zimmer, author of Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea

GABRIELLE WALKER is a features editor for New Scientist and has also written for The Economist and a host of other publications. She lives in London.