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Gorgon: Paleontology, obsession and the greatest catastrophe in Earth’s history by Peter Ward, Viking/Penguin, $27.95, ISBN 0670030945 Reviewed by Ted Nield

YOU can almost see the personal ad, can’t you? “Palaeontologist, acts young, own teeth (surprisingly), fresh from solving puzzle of dinosaur extinction, seeks new challenge. Likes: basketball, keep fit, waving arms. Hates: ticks, getting mugged. Book contract assured.”

Our intrepid author, fresh from solving the ex-mystery of the end-Cretaceous extinction (it was an asteroid, by the way), finds himself in free-fall anticlimax. How can he ever top that? He goes on to describe how he became involved in investigating…

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