This is the story, told here for the first time, of how an international cast of scientists produced the discoveries that brought about the plate-tectonics revolution. In preparing this book the author interviewed virtually all of the important contributors to that critical decade of research, 1957-66. Working in the tradition of history of science, he explores personal relationships, institutional support, and the rivalries and frictions between and within research groups.

This book is the first to examine the arguments and behavior of the scientists who have been locked in conflict for a decade over two competing hypotheses for the cause of the mass extinction, some 65 million years ago, of most of life on earth, including the dinosaurs. These papers - by historians, sociologists, philosophers, and participating scientists - provide an exceptional opportunity to observe firsthand the workings of science that in quieter times are hidden from view. The book concludes with an overarching discussion by a balanced panel of embattled scientists and scholars.