Comets

Children's Literature

I showed this book to an astronomer. It made her angry. The reason was an absurd statement on page 35 that follows a description of the impact that wiped out the dinosaurs: "When the sun came back out and life began to rebuild, new life-forms may have begun to form from the amino acids that rained down into the sea. These amino acids are often found in comets and are part of the reason why scientists believe it was a comet that ended the age of the dinosaurs and began the age of the mammals." It is true that organic molecules are found in comets, even simple amino acids. But to imply that amino acids in that devastating comet (if it was a comet) resulted in new life forms in only 65 million years is arrogant ignorance. It is ignorance because life takes longer than that to evolve. It is arrogant because the authors clearly didn't bother to check with someone who knew the subject. This is an editor's fault. The entire series was done with no apparent involvement from experts—even though agencies like NASA, the National Science Foundation, and most Universities would have happily provided it. Part of the "Eyes on the Sky" series. 2003, Kid Haven Press,
— Michael Chabin