Apocalypse 2012

A Scientific Investigation into Civilization's End

De: Lawrence E. Joseph

Narrado por: Feodor Chin

Don’t look up

It won’t help. You can’t get out of the way, you can’t dig a hole deep enough to hide. The end is coming, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

So why read this book?
Because you can’t look away when not just the religious fanatics are saying we’re all going to be destroyed but the scientists are in on the act too. Here’s what they’re saying:

We’re a million years over due for a mass extinction.

The sun at radiation minimum is acting much worse than at solar maximum, and one misdirected spewing of plasma could fry us in an instant.

The magnetic field—which shields us from harmful radiation—is developing a mysterious crack.

Our solar system is entering an energetically hostile part of the galaxy.

The Yellowstone supervolcano is getting ready to blow, and if it does, we can look forward to nuclear winter and 90 percent annihilation.

The Maya, the world’s greatest timekeepers ever, say it’s all going to stop on December 21, 2012.


So, see? There’s nothing you can do, but you might as well sit back and enjoy the show.

You’ll get a good chuckle.
That’s why you should read this book.

Dear Reader,

If there were a chance that opening this book could set off a chain of events that would lead to Apocalypse, to the end of Life as we know it, would you be tempted? Finger poised uncertainly above the flashing red button? How about if the Apocalypse promised to result in a new age of enlightenment, a Heaven on Earth like never before?

Personally, I’ll take the security of my cozy life over a chance at nirvana. But status quo may no longer be an option, for any of us. This book will convince you that there is a nonnegligible chance that the year 2012 will be more tumultuous, catastrophic, and, quite possibly, revelatory, than any other year in human history.

Parts of this book are best read with a bowl of popcorn: looking into the jaws of a great white shark in search of the meaning of death; touring a picturesque Guatemalan town with Mayan shaman just weeks before it is utterly destroyed. Other sections go better with a tranquilizer, such as the impending eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano, or the mass extinction headed our way—on the scale of the great collision that destroyed the dinosaurs and 70 percent of all other species, our best scientists contend that it’s now overdue. Nail-biters should beware the fact that the next peak in the sunspot cycle, due in 2012, is widely expected to set records for the number and intensity of solar storms pummeling the Earth with radiation and igniting natural calamities such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and Katrina-sized hurricanes. And that our entire solar system appears to be moving into a dangerous interstellar energy cloud.

Is it a coincidence that the burgeoning war between Christianity and Islam seems hell-bent for Armageddon? Or that numerous other religions, philosophies, and cultural traditions are signaling that the end is near, with 2012 emerging as the consensus target date? A new era is about to be born, with all the pain and blood and joy and release that birth naturally entails.

Facing oblivion, or at least mega-metamorphosis, is something that few of us are emotionally prepared to do. Thus my excuse for the gallows humor that pervades this story. In a memorable Mary Tyler Moore episode, Mary cracks up laughing at the funeral of Chuckles the Clown who, dressed as a peanut while marching in a parade, was shucked to death by an elephant. If Mary can giggle in the face of death, so can we.

With kind regards,
Lawrence E. Joseph©2007 Lawrence E. Joseph; (P)2007 Random House Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Fascinating . . . incredible research and an equally incredible sense of humor.”—Tim LaHaye

“Joseph is a lively tour guide, introducing readers to Mayan shamans and Russian scientists with equal aplomb.”— Publishers Weekly

“Apocalypse 2012 manages to be both lighthearted in tone and more than a little disturbing in content.” – Maclean’s

Interesting Conjectures

Interesting conjectures about 2012.
Lots of interesting information about potential calamities without a doomsday prophecy awaiting in the shadows. But ...
Second half of book a bit disjoint. And leaves me wondering what was the whole point of the book. And still debating whether it was worth 2 credits -- if the book had been just one credit, I would probably rate it higher. But ...
Not sure I got a good deal here or not. In fact, wish I had found this as an audio book from my local public library instead of spending money on it.
It is worth reading / listening to. As a good listen, it rates about 4. As a good buy, 3 or lower. Sorry ...
can't compare the book against others on the same topic, except "Unlocking the Secrets of 2012" by John Major Jenkins. That book goes more into the Mayan mythology and its meaning, and therefore does not compare.
Looking quickly through the descriptions of the other books on the topic here at Audible -- this and Jenkins' book may be your best buys ...

Look Elsewhere

While this book does contain some decent pieces of information about the subject, it's not nearly enough to be worth two credits. I got it as an impulse buy, but ended up with a mess of a book citing some calculations and some "interviews" the author supposedly had with mystics and taxi drivers during his travels.

Entertaining? Yes. Educational? No.

Self-indulgent and silly.

I have to admit, my expectations may have colored my opinion of this book, I was expecting a well researched survey course of the various horrible things that might happen to our planet and society-- kind of like the more sensational bits of Bill Bryson's "Brief History of Nearly Everything". What I got was a disjointed "personal journey" sort of narrative by an author who apparently never heard a crackpot theory he didn't like. The bits on Mayan beliefs were interesting, but where the author tries to tackle hard science, it gets hard to listen for long without needing to sit down from dizziness, due to all the unavoidable eyerolling you'll find yourself doing.

Not Worth 2 Credits

This book seemed too unorganized. There are a lot of neat conjectures portrayed but they didn't seem to come together well, especially in the second half of the book.

Zounds!

Stupendous read! Soundly penned, compelling ideas wherein the author's conclusions are pertinent. Research is okay for general public. I think every man woman and child who can do so, should immediately check this book out.