The Death of Truth

Back in the 1970s, a theory emerged in academic paleontology about the death of the dinosaurs, and this theory received immense publicity. Supposedly, dust clouds from the crash of a big meteorite blocked the sun’s rays for a number of years. Plants died, and the dinosaurs starved.

Now, this theory had its obvious political uses. The notion of a “nuclear winter” was being popularized by Carl Sagan, Jonathan Schell, and many others. The dust clouds raised by a nuclear war would do to us what the dust raised by the supposed meteorite did to the dinosaurs.

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Jeffrey Hart

Jeffrey Hart is a contributor to National Review.

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Back in the 1970s, a theory emerged in academic paleontology about the death of the dinosaurs, and this theory received immense publicity. Supposedly, dust clouds from the crash of a big meteorite blocked the sun’s rays for a number of years. Plants died, and the dinosaurs starved.

Now, this theory had its obvious political uses. The notion of a “nuclear winter” was being popularized by Carl Sagan, Jonathan Schell, and many others. The dust clouds raised by a nuclear war would do to us what the dust raised by the supposed meteorite did to the dinosaurs.