Review by Choice Review
Prothero (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County) is a prolific author of books oriented to lay readers interested in the geological sciences. Three that deserve mention are in his "25" series: The Story of Life in 25 Fossils (CH, Mar'16, 53-3083), The Story of the Dinosaurs in 25 Discoveries (CH, Dec'19, 57-1331), and The Story of the Earth in 25 Rocks (CH, Aug'18, 55-4480). Prothero also has published numerous books on evolution. This book consists of 20 chapters, all short (except for chapter 19, on the chordates). Chapters 1--10 present general information about fossils: what and where they are and how to date, collect, identify, and name them. Chapters 11--20 cover the different phyla that have fossil representatives: eight chapters on invertebrates, one on the chordates, and one on plants. Each describes the features of the phylum and its major fossil groups and provides details on where to find them. The gray-scale images are useful, including clear black-and-white diagrams. One center section provides some color photographs of fossils. The index is short, and no bibliography is included. The text is easy to understand, with limited use of jargon, and will be most helpful to beginners who want to know more about fossils but have limited geological understanding. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates. General readers. --Larry Thomas Spencer, emeritus, Plymouth State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
