"'The decline of the dinosaurs allowed mammals - including us - to flourish. And that leads us to wonder whether the disappearance of the dinosaurs is going to be repeated, sooner or later, by us as well. Whether at the deepest level the fault lies not in blind fate - in some fiery meteor from the skies - but in our own behavior. At the moment we have no answer.'

"And then he smiled.

"'But I do have a few suggestions,' he said." Introduction, pp. xi-xii

"He was famous for his photographic memory, his arrogance, his sharp tongue, and the unconcealed pleasure he took in pointing out the errors of colleagues. As a colleague once said, 'Levine never forgets a bone - and he never lets you forget it, either."' Part One, pg. 18

"Alone, Malcolm unrolled the strip of paper that had come with the...