Product Description

Authoritative text crystal-clear photography and a systematic approach make the Dorling Kindersley Handbook of Fossils the most comprehensive and concise pocket to fossils of the world. Packed withmore than 1 000 full-colour photographs of over 500 species this handbook is designed to cut through the complicated identification process and enable you to recognize a species instantly. Photo-encyclopedic Approach Expertly written and thoroughly vetted each entry combines a precise description with annotated photography to highlight a fossil's chief characteristics and distinguishing features. A full-colour illustration showing the fossil as a living animal or plant as well as colour-coded bands providing at-a-glance facts for quick reference complete every entry.Identification Made Easy For beginners and established enthusiasts alike the Dorling Kindersley Handbook of Fossils explains what a fossil is how fossils are classified and how to start a collection. To help you in the initial stages of identification the book provides a visual key that makes it easy to recognize a fossil and place it in its correct genus. Finally a concise glossary gives instant understanding of technical and scientific terms.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6716 in Books
• Published on: 2000-11-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

A beautiful book
It is a beautiful book with over 1,000 high-quality pictures. As soon as I bought the book, I was able identify couple of fossils I found accidentally. After an introductory section, there are three sections; namely, invertebrates, vertebrates and plants. The introductory chapter includes where to look for fossils and equipment for fossil collection. In general there are about two to three fossils introduced on one page. As well as the photograph of the fossil, there is a tiny drawing of the complete animal (or plant) at the corner (I managed to find the names of my daughter's toy dinosaurs by looking at these pictures). The order to which the fossil belongs, name of the family, habitats and the informal name, together with the geological range, geographical distribution and the occurrence frequency are all given. Explanations are brief but more than enough for amateurs like me.

A beautiful book
It is a beautiful book with over 1,000 high-quality pictures. As soon as I bought the book, I was able identify couple of fossils I found accidentally. After an introductory section, there are three sections; namely, invertebrates, vertebrates and plants. The introductory chapter includes where to look for fossils and equipment for fossil collection. In general there are about two to three fossils introduced on one page. As well as the photograph of the fossil, there is a tiny drawing of the complete animal (or plant) at the corner (I managed to find the names of my daughter's toy dinosaurs by looking at these pictures). The order to which the fossil belongs, name of the family, habitats and the informal name, together with the geological range, geographical distribution and the occurrence frequency are all given. Explanations are brief but more than enough for amateurs like me.

Nice pictures,but could have been so much better
I agree that this is a beautiful book at a bargain price. It is also useful for what it says is its main aim: enabling the reader to identify fossils. It could however have been so much better,

First, I found the organization rather chaotic. Why are things in the order they are? There might be a scheme, but if so I couldn't work out what it was. What is the difference between the bivalve and brachiopod, for instance?

Second, although the "reconstructions" have a size, the fossils themselves don't have a scale - presumably the teeth and otoliths are tiny, but they look huge.

Third, I would have liked more background. There needs to a biological overview: what are phyla, how are different organisms related to one another, how things fit in with evolution.

Fourth, some of the text is just difficult to follow - there are too many technical terms. Line drawings illustrating the names of parts referred to are essential.

Perhaps I'm being too harsh: this is a photo guide, not a palaeontology text, after all. But then why is the text so hard going in places? It's frustrating, because with a bit more thought this could have been a superb book.