Rain Of Iron And Ice: The Very Real Threat Of Comet And Asteroid Bombardment (Helix Books): John S. Lewis: 9780201154948: Amazon.com: Books

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This volume informally yet comprehensively surveys meteorites (which reach the surface of the earth) and meteors (which don't)-their origins, types, consequences and prospects for influencing future events. Author Lewis, codirector for science at a NASA/University of Arizona research center, is passionate and upbeat on the topic. Addressing the general reader, he recounts apt anecdotes in historical context while outlining a commonsensical framework for understanding the scientific scope and nature of the matter that comes to earth from space. Early chapters describe legendary meteorite falls. Subsequent chapters consider, for example, new knowledge from studies of nuclear explosions, cratering on Mars and Mercury, atmospheric effects on Venus and biological signatures of impacts in earth fossil records. Very interesting are results of computer simulations based on the accumulated discoveries, which project what we can expect from future encounters. Overall, Lewis presents an impressively readable and informative digest of current knowledge on the subject.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

News flash: After 200 years of touting the uniformity principle, scientists have discovered catastrophism. Of course, there has always been evidence of destruction coming from the heavens: The Book of Revelations, Charles Fort, medieval astrologers, Christian Millenialists, and Immanuel Velikovsky have all insisted upon it. But now, after centuries of debunking such theories, science proclaims its official dictum: cataclysm is possible, indeed probable. Rain of Iron and Ice traces the history of religious and scientific beliefs about meteorite falls, cometary eruptions, and asteroid near-misses and reviews eschatology (the literature of such catastrophes). Lewis, a noted planetary scientist and impact crater expert and author of Space Resources (LJ, 9/15/87), follows the fascinating study of bombardment on the Earth, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars. He outlines the results of computer simulations and the implications for the future of life on Earth, offering suggestions as to "what we can do about it." Lewis does a fairly thorough job of reviling experts for scoffing at superstition and ignoring the vast quantities of eyewitness reports, but he stays within the bounds of establishment science (there are no footnotes to Velikovsky). Following Duncan Steel's more lay oriented Rogue Asteroids and Doomsday Comets (LJ 5/1/95), this scholarly history is suitable for academic libraries and informed science readers in public libraries.?Valerie Vaughan, Hatfield P.L., Mass.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

Excellent, and scary

By Philip C. Plait on November 1, 2000

Format: Hardcover

Dr. Lewis is an acknowledged expert on the topic of impacts, and it shows. His writing is clear and vivid; his descriptions of impact events are some of the best (and most chilling) I have read. There is a wealth of detail about potentially hazardous asteroids and comets, yet he never talks above the reader's head. As a professional astronomer myself and one who has talked about this subject many times, I highly recommend this book.

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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

Lewis set to rock with "Rain of Iron and Ice"

By A Customer on March 16, 1998

Format: Paperback

John S. Lewis uses his extensive knowledge of asteroids and comets to create "Rain of Iron and Ice", the most authoritative work on the cosmic threat that I have read to date.
Most fascinating and frightening about the book is the computer simulations of impacts at various locations around the world. The scenarios are a reminder of exactly how vunerable the Earth is to a threat that is largely misunderstood and taken for granted.
Serious students of asteroid and comet impact will appreciate the technical accuracy with which Lewis delivers the material. Those picking up the book for the first time will be surprised with the ease of readability and the easy flow of the author's words.
The accuracy and readability of "Rain of Iron and Ice" will leave no doubt as to just how real the threat asteroids and comets pose to our planet.

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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

Don't worry about my review -- just read the book

By A Customer on June 9, 2002

Format: Paperback

This fine book is designed primarily with one goal in mind. Aimed at a popular audience, it is written to counteract the unfortunately widespread myth that no one has ever been killed, or will ever be killed, by a falling asteroid or meteor. John Lewis reworks this statement, reminding us that the way it should be phrased is as follows: "no one as ever been killed or hurt by a meteor or asteroid in the presence of a Western, 20th/21st century journalist or meteoriticist."
This book demonstrates, through statistics and anecdotes, that it is more than just a question of occasional asteroids like the one that killed the dinosaurs, or like the ones in the asteroid movies from the summer of 1999. There is an extremely wide range of asteroids, meteors, and other random space-rocks, of all different shapes, sizes, and compositions. The ones large enough to do fairly serious damage land all over the planet, and substantially more often than many of us tend to believe.
Chapter 14 alone is worth the price of the book. In it, Dr. Lewis shows us computer simulations of several likely asteroid strikes. Let me clarify that -- he presents the results of computer simulations of 10 randomly computer-generated "centuries" on Earth, and what the statistical likelihood of pretty awful asteroid collisions are in each century. Many of the simulations are pretty terrifying. The one that opens the chapter, taking place in the Phillipines, is one of the most horrifying things you'll ever read.
Another valuable part of the book is the table in chapter 13, which lists dozens of damaging asteroid or meteor strikes throughout recorded history, all over the world. Stories like this crop up throughout the book, they aren't just in chapter 13.
The intent of this book is to raise public awareness. It succeeds dramatically. Please buy a copy, and get copies for some of your friends. Two thumbs up.

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

One of the finest books on the subject.

By A Customer on August 27, 1998

Format: Paperback

An excellent book, both for the beginner, or for the serious student of cosmic impact. The author takes us on a tour of impacts through the solar system, and then back through the history of our own planet, revealing some disturbing evidence of past impact. If you're looking for a good book on the subject, this is it.

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

It "Rocks"

By Holy Olio on December 18, 2000

Format: Paperback

__________________
The need for radioastronomy to detect near Earth objects on the day-side is documented in this book. Amateur astronomers have a real opportunity to potentially save all life on Earth. Despite the efforts expended (mostly since 1994, after the impact of the fragments of Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter) the estimate is that 90 per cent of nearby asteroids are unknown. As David Morrison has warned, nothing can be told about the unknown majority, and the odds are that there will be no warning.
At least four large impacts occurred during the 20th century, the best known being the Tunguska object in 1908. I was a bit startled to learn of the small 1919 impact on Lake Michigan (p 159) having never heard anything about this from elderly folklore-prone relatives.
Perhaps most useful is Lewis' discussion of the various myths about our safety from such impacts.
See also "Night Comes to the Cretaceous" by James Lawrence Powell.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

The best book for the lay reader

By Jerald R Lovell on March 11, 2002

Format: Paperback

This book is a natural five-star. It clearly and eloquently discusses the threat from asteroids and comets. The scenario of a SMALL asteroid falling in the Philippine Sea should be eye-opening to even the most jaded. Also especially worth reading are the chapters on Mercury and on computer created scenarios of falls over a century's time. The book maintains a steady pace throughout, and is a must for anyone interested in meteoritics.

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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

Informative Yet Chilling Read

By ZSky on February 16, 2008

Format: Paperback

This book by John Lewis is very intriguing read. Roughly 220 pages with fifteen chapters, and easy to read. He explored the threats from space as well discussed the asteroid impacts from the past in our solar system, including that of Mars, Moon, Mercury, and even the impacts on asteroids themselves.

Out of all informative and fascinating chapters in this book, I felt the fourteenth chapter is most chilling to read because the author brings the reader to experience each scenario of impacts from A to J. Each is frightening as one begin to see, as the computer simulations show, what it would be like to be collided with the iron asteroid.

Overall, I felt this book is directed towards bringing the public awareness of the threats from space as it is likely. Not everyone ever believes that Earth will get hit by comets or asteroids, and that we are safe from such threats. This book can help one to understand the grace issue of such threats, and why we would need to look up and be aware of such cosmic events will happen, and it is just the matter of when. This book will surely be added to that awareness.

In my opinion, I really recommend this book.

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Rain Of Iron And Ice: The Very Real Threat Of Comet And Asteroid Bombardment (Helix Books) Paperback – April 25, 1997

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