The Sixth Extinction

Despite winning the Pulitzer Prize and having thousands of positive reviews, The Sixth Extinction didn’t exactly live up to my standards. Let me explain.

This book uses various animals – extinct, endangered, and living – to explain the previous five mass extinctions and the current sixth mass extinction. It includes stories about the scientists who made strides in evolutionary biology and the author's own research experiences.

First the good stuff: I think the writer did a great job explaining that the sixth mass extinction is happening right now and humans are the primary cause. She explains the effects of human caused CO2 emissions, ocean acidification, poaching, deforestation/habitat loss, and species relocation. I also liked learning about the various causes of previous extinctions and how scientists discovered them. Overall, as a beginner in anthropology, it was easy for me to read and understand.

The issue I have is that the book is unfocused. Unfortunately, this is a problem I have noticed in many books written by journalists (such as Nine Pints and Moonwalking with Einstein). I thought her thesis was clear: the sixth extinction is happening, and humans are the cause. Yet, as the book went on, the auth

or went on detailed tangents about the scientists’ personal lives and her own research experiences. Here is an example of such a tangent:

I understand the author’s willingness to share personal experience, but often it doesn’t add much to her point. In fact, it is distracting to read a story that doesn’t add to her argument.

On the flip side, the author sometimes lacks details about interesting facts. For example, she mentioned Darwin’s Paradox: while coral reefs are very diverse (comparable to a rainforest) they are scarce in nutrients. However, after introducing this perplexity, she quickly moves on, claiming that the system is complex and corals are at the center. I would have appreciated more detail, despite its complexity, to understand how such a paradox exists.

As I mentioned earlier, this is something I have noticed in multiple books. It’s obviously not unforgivable issue, but something I noticed multiple times while reading this book. Despite some of these shortcomings, the book introduced me to new concepts about our environment and how it is shaped. It fulfilled its purpose to inform, and if you’re interested in the subject, give it a read.