I've been wanting to read this book for years, since I heard the authors on a talk show in 2004! Finally got around to it and kick myself for putting it off for so long. Great book, heavy on scientific theory. I loved it! The authors don't hide the fact that these "predictions" are theories.... Backed up by cold, hard science. I feel enlightened. ( )

This book had a considerable impact on my comprehension of the universe. By precisely explaining every single fact that made life possible on earth it showed me how much it was pure unbelievable luck, and that intelligent life elsewhere in the universe is, contrary to my former beliefs I am afraid, highly unlikely. ( )

Good book - surprised by number of typos (especially given that the book was written back in 2004) and silly factual errors (water is composed of one atom of hydrogen and two of oxygen? News to me...) - but this was a good, thought-provoking book overall. Authors went a long way to caveat their predictions - this is not hard science, but future-casting - but the thinking and speculation really put our future in context. The inescapable conclusions are that 1) CO2 levels have been dropping for the last 600M years, and will continue to drop like a stone, and 2) our next several series of "climate changes" will be cold ones, before they become really hot ones (driven by the increase in heat output of the sun). This supports my long-held contention that man-made global warming is a fallacy, but unfortunately the authors are too squeamish to draw the obvious conclusion from their own work. Most scientists are unwilling to allow their work (science) to inform their belief system - instead they draw the opposite conclusions in the face of hard facts, to support their political beliefs. That reluctance to follow their own facts is the most disappointing aspect of an otherwise enjoyable, well-constructed book. ( )

Life on Earth has already peaked, and has begun its inexorable process of decay. Our planet will be devoid of all but the simplest organisms in about 500 million years. ( )

Earth life is past its peak and its midpoint. Despite the current anthropogenic global warming, the next ice age is here by 10^4 years hence. In 10^6 or 10^7 years, all the ice ages are over, and in 3 x 10^8 years all the continents re-converge, possibly causing a mass extinction. In about 7 x 10^8 years, all higher plant species are extinguished by an ever-brightening Sol. Animal life later succumbs to the depleted oxygen and increasing heat, leaving a biosphere of microbes. After 10^9 years hence, the oceans evaporate and are lost to space. Extinction of the last bacteria occurs maybe in 3.5 x 10^9 years. By 7 x 10^9 years, Sol becomes a red giant and begins fusing helium into carbon. When about to enter its final white-dwarf phase, Sol first expands out to about Earth's orbit. Orbital drag causes Luna to crash into Earth, which later either ends up as a ball of slag or is dragged into Sol and vaporized. How do you like *them* apples?