In the first edition of Catastrophe, Richard Posner outlined the very real and continuing threat of massive catastrophes, from asteroid collisions to nuclear accidents to global warming to particle accelerator disasters. In this new edition, he incorporates the many new scholarly insights about catastrophe and risk that have emerged in the wake of the Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, discussing these events in detail and applying the same pragmatic, scientific approach that he utilized so successfully the first time around.

Richard A Posner is Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School. He is the author of many books and articles, including Overcoming Law and An Affair of State, both of which were picked by The New York Times Book Review as among the best books of their year.