Not by Fire but by Ice: Discover What Killed the Dinosaurs...and Why It Could Soon Kill Us [Paperback]

Robert W. Felix (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1997

Forget global warming. The next ice age could begin any day. Beginning with the dinosaur extinction of 65 million years ago, Not by Fire but by Ice explores the relationship between mass extinctions, ice ages, and geomagnetic reversals (times when compasses would have pointed south instead of north).

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A must-read. You'll shudder every time you see a snowflake.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From Chapter 1:
Contorted and twisted, their bodies lie scattered across the barren Wyoming countryside like dead flies on a window sill. But these are no flies, these are dinosaurs. Measuring up to 80 feet long (the length of a trailer-truck), the once mighty brontosaurs now lie embedded in the cold western limestone of Sheep Creek.

Arched backwards, with their necks and tails twisted and curved above their backs, the 50-ton monsters look as if they died in agony. It must have been a muscle-pulling, head-twisting, bellowing kind of agony, to leave them so distorted and bowed. Dozens of similarly contorted bodies have been found in bone quarry after desolate bone quarry all over the west.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Sugarhouse Pub; 1 edition (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964874695
• ISBN-13: 978-0964874695
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,170,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unique Ideas but with Lots of Flaws, July 14, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Not by Fire But by Ice (Paperback)

The main flaw of the book is that it seeks out scientists who cooborrate the authors opinions while not paying enough attention to the vast evidence against such opinions. For example an overwhelming majority of scientists do not connect the dinosaur extinction with either an ice age or magnetic reversal. And the meteor impact theory has much, much more going for it than what Mr. Felix tells us in his book. The bottom line, magnetic reversals are quite common, there are maybe 5 every million years and we do not have mass extinctions 5 times every million years. So why do I give this book 4 stars? The main reason is that the author presents a very intriguing theory linking underwater volcanism to El Nino and to ice ages as well. This is the first time I had heard this theory and it sounds quite plausible. Also the author does give pretty good explanations of complicated topics in a way that a lay person could understand so the book is quite educational. You can tell this guy definitely knows his stuff. So, buy the book, read it, but research further and make up your own mind.

50 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The coming of the next ice age, June 29, 2002

By 

Natalie Kilpatrick (Omaha, NE) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Not by Fire But by Ice (Paperback)

After hearing an interview with Robert Felix on a radio show, I desperately wanted this book, but for some reason I just never ordered it. Well, after I finally did, I'm not disappointed in what I read.

Whether you believe that the next ice age is coming or not; and whether you believe that the dinosaurs, mammoths, etc. were wiped out by an ice age or not; there's more to this book than just that.

Mr. Felix goes into great details to explain what scientists theorize makes an ice age happens. He mainly describes polar-magnetic reversals (where the north and south poles flip); nuclear explosions on the sun, earth, and miles above the earth (those creating the Aurora Borealis); earthquakes and earthquake lightes; sudden climatic changes; etc.

The book also tells us how an instantaneous ice age can occur (feet upon feet of snow in hours). Notes are made about when 5 inches of rain falls that can actually add up to 50 inches of snow. He goes on and on about places that have received this much rain in such short periods of time, going on that it can happen with snow, not just rain. The only problem I have with this theory is that when it rains so much, its usually in an isolated area, not hemisphere-wide like he's trying to suggest.

All in all, I think it makes for one hell of a book. It's definitely one that I'm going to keep for years and years to come! But, when it starts snowing... Be afraid. Be very afraid.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Look at both sides and decide for yourself!!!, July 6, 2006

By 

Daniel Groseck "Daniel Groseck" (Southampton, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Not by Fire But by Ice (Paperback)

This book is a must read for those interested in our changing climate. On one side we have the Global Warming "Chicken Littles" like Al Gore who propose all climate change is human induced. On the other side we have conservative lobbyists and free-enterprise think tanks trying to discredit the Global Warming folks. Neither is entirely believable. Robert Felix presents a scarier hypothesis and an interesting counterpoint to both. An ice age would be the most catastrophic to life as we know it. Felix never denies our climate is changing.

The bottom line is that there are so many factors that could influence climate besides mankind induced CO2. Things like the Milankovitch Cycle, Volcanism, etc. Felix presents these ideas.

Like most, I believe our climate is changing. It's better to forget the political aims of liberals and conservatives, and just read as much science as you can. We might not end up where we think we're going. Time will tell who was right. An enjoyable read... 4 stars.