"The Curse of Akkad": Question for the Class

When Kolbert ends section I of Field Notes by reporting on a conversation with biologist Chris Thomas, she has directed our attention toward the future.  "Part of it simply is," Thomas says, "we've got one planet, and we are heading it in a direction that . . . we don't know what the consequences are going to be."  As we turn from that sobering conclusion and flip the page that reads "Part II Man," we find that Kolbert is asking us to look to a past that is 4300 years distant.  Comment on your experience of reading the chapter and--perhaps--how your reactions to her choice changed as you read.