Hot Spots Chapter Summary

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Going into this assignment, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I read the first chapter, which gave a lot of information about frogs, and I decided that I was going to like this book. I was previously a biochemistry major, and I have always loved science. The information is presented in a way that is readable, not like a textbook, and I think we all wonder at some point what the future holds for humans if we continue the way we are. At about chapter five, I really hit a wall. Kolbert talks about this scientist Zalasiewicz who says that “he imagines the rats of the future evolving...living in caves, shaping rocks as primitive tools, and wearing the skins of other mammals they have eaten and killed” (p 106). I’m sorry, but for me, I can’t take this guy seriously, and I don’t think he has a place in this book that is supposed to …show more content…

In our day, we have seen animals go extinct before our eyes, and many others reach a state of near-extinction. Just seeing the difference in the world he lived in and the world we live in now is a little crazy. There is a section that I love, 2 paragraphs, that talks about the author going to Dob’s Linn (p 94-95). The language is great, “In my view, it’s raining...I’m told...this only counts as a light drizzle, or smirr.” I enjoy the connection to the culture there, as well as the picture it paints of the interaction between Kolbert and the locals. She also tells a folklore about how “the Devil himself was pushed over a precipice by a pious shepherd named Dob.” Again, the connection to the culture and the narrative really pulled in my interest. The information on the pH of the ocean was really interesting. She explains well how one tenth of a difference in pH makes a huge difference in the ocean life (p 114). I think it makes the topic approachable for the