Dinosaur demise

Thank you, Steuart Campbell (Letters, 12 February).

I was aware of the precise ­figures you quote but used a rough 100, easily remembered, to point out just how minuscule the actual mortality was ­compared with the fantastic predictions made – predictions which, incidentally, turned out to be the cause of the real ­Chernobyl disaster.

Let us finish on a lighter note. All of this has inspired my brilliant new alternative theory on the demise of the dinosaurs.

Part of the reasoning behind the aforementioned fantastic predictions is that radiation risk is proportional to both dose and body mass. At the time of the dinosaurs, background radiation would have been much higher than now – and, as we all know, they were pretty big beasts!

Fancy another horseburger?

(Dr) A McCormick

Kirkland Road

Terregles, Dumfries