So heißt das neue Buch von Simon Briscoe and Hugh Aldersey-Williams. Die Sunday Times hat heute Auszüge aus dem Ende des Monats erscheinenden Werk veröffentlicht. Das Kapitel über Asteroiden und dem potenziellen Impakt-Risiko ist trotz einiger kleiner Mängel insgesamt ausgewogen und treffend. Man darf also auf das neue Buch gespannt sein:

What’s new is not the public’s appetite for a good panic story or the media’s willingness to serve one up. It’s the role of other agencies. A generation ago, there were concerns in the world and they were reflected in the media; but the tone would have been sober, and behind it all would have been the reassuring presence of a paternalistic government.

Now politicians and government officials seem more likely to add to our sense of panic. And there are plenty of other highly vocal interest groups – scientists, health and safety nuts, corporations and their advertising agencies, nongovernmental organisations and lobby groups.

We never really learn the genuine extent of the risks; nor are we told what we as individuals can do to reduce them. We are merely told to be alert – that is to say, on the edge of panic.

(Dr. Benny Peiser)