The Hab Theory — Allan W. Eckert

This large contemporary novel tells the story of an ordinary electrical engineer who, at age 94 and dabbling in the earth sciences as an avocation, discovers an amazing and shocking truth -- that time after time since the beginnings of the earth, life on earth has been periodically been virtually destroyed and has had to start over again. Such a disaster (which occurs at intervals of 15,000 to 50,000 years apart, is currently threatening the earth. The electrical engineer, Herbert Allen Boardman (HAB) tries to alert the people but he is ignored and, in desperation and to get the ear of the world, he sets out seemingly to assassinate the President of the United States -- an assassination attempt deliberately meant to fail, but which puts into motion a remarkable series of events that virtually rock the world. A young writer, John Grant, becomes convinced of the validity of the HAB Theory and, though himself involved in a steamy affair and a marriage that is falling apart, becomes the hingepin upon which the story revolves as the action moves from Chicago to Washington, London, Paris and Nairobi, from the Oval Office of the President to a great international symposium, from the lush dwellings -- and bedrooms -- of the rich and famous to the humble grass shacks of African tribesmen.