Ice Age

John Gribbin, John R. Gribbin, Mary Gribbin

Penguin Books, 2002 - Science - 104 pages

On 24 June 1837, Louis Agassiz stunned the learned members of the Swiss Society of Natural Sciences by addressing them, in his role as President, not with an anticipated lecture on fossil fishes, but with a passionate presentation on the existence of Ice Ages. No one was convinced. He even dragged the reluctant members of the Society up into the mountains to see the evidence for themselves, pointing out the scars on the hard rocks left by glaciation (which some of those present tried to explain away as having been produced by the wheels of passing carriages). Extraordinarily, it would take a further 140 years before the Ice Age theory was fully proved and understood.

About the author

John R. Gribbin (born 19 March 1946) is a British science writer, an astrophysicist, and a visiting fellow in astronomy at the University of Sussex. The topical range of his prolific writings include quantum physics, human evolution, climate change, global warming, the origins of the universe, and biographies of famous scientists. He also writes science fiction. In 1984, Gribbin published In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality, the book that he is best known for, which continues to sell well even after years of publication. At the 2009 World Conference of Science Journalists, the Association of British Science Writers presented Gribbin with their Lifetime Achievement award.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Ice Age; Penguin Press Science Series
• Authors: John Gribbin, John R. Gribbin, Mary Gribbin
• Edition: 2, illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Penguin Books, 2002
• ISBN: 0141007303, 9780141007304
• Length: 104 pages
• Subjects: Science / Earth Sciences / Sedimentology & Stratigraphy; Science / General; Science / Global Warming & Climate Change