Every 225 million years the Earth, and all the life on it,
completes one revolution around our Milky Way Galaxy. During this
remarkable journey, life is influenced by calamitous changes.
Comets and asteroids strike the surface of the Earth, stars explode
near by, enormous volcanoes erupt, and more recently, humans litter
the planet with waste. Many animals and plants become extinct
during the voyage, but humble microbes, simple creatures made of a
single cell, survive this journey. This book takes a tour of the
microbial world, from the coldest and deepest places on Earth to
the hottest and highest, and witnesses some of the most
catastrophic events that life can face. Impossible Extinction tells
this remarkable story for the general reader explaining how
microbes have survived on Earth for over three billion years.