From the book...


I live on the plains of Iowa, drive a pick-up truck, and build instruments for satellites that study the Earth. I am conservative in the way I dress, in the way I lead my life, in the people I vote for, and in the way I do science. Science is my life. But four years ago pictures relayed from an orbiting satellite led me to a radical departure from the scientific mainstream. I proposed that the Earth was being showered by a vast number of previously undetected, small comets. I calculated that about twenty of these comets, each about the size of a small house and made essentially of water and ice, plunge through our atmosphere each and every minute of every day. If I am correct, then the water that we fish in, bathe in, drink, and are made of, is of extraterrestrial origin.


I did not make this up. The discovery of the small comets is based on a set of observations made at the limits of present-day technology. It so stretches our understanding of the world and impinges on so many areas of scientific study that the interest and ire of nearly the entire scientific community has been aroused. This new population of objects in the solar system has ignited a fierce scientific dispute...
 

The Big Splash

The Big Splash

by Louis A. Frank

with Patrick Huyghe


Birch Lane Press, 1990

Hardcover: Out-of-Print

Avon Books, 1991

Trade Paperback: Out-of-Print


Sample Chapter


Small Comet Web Site



"A savage tale of how science works..."

– The New York Times


"A fascinating book. An exciting story. May be a classic. Move over, Jim Watson! Here's the astronomer's answer to The Double Helix !"

– Arthur C. Clarke


"An entertaining account..."

– New Scientist


"...unique insights into the way a theory is developed and the way the scientific community handles unorthodox ideas...well worth reading."

– San Francisco Chronicle


"I enjoyed the book immensely..."

– Sky & Telescope


"...presents evidence of an intriguing hypothesis...[and] casts light on the turf wars and professional jealousies that can hinder scientific research..."

– Publishers Weekly


"...a provocative work in a hotly contested area..."

– Library Journal