Review by Choice Review
The last few decades have witnessed a great increase in attention paid to organisms and their habitats during the Proterozoic, that vast time span between 2.5 billion and about 550 million years ago. This massive work synthesizes and analyzes previous work on the Proterozoic, and includes much new information as well. The book is divided into two parts, the first consisting of chapters that discuss aspects of the Proterozoic and early Cambrian biosphere (the nature of the atmosphere and ocean, fossils, evolution, etc.); the second, primarily tables with an immense amount of data. Several handy indexes and a glossary are also included. This book was written by members of the Precambrian Paleobiology Research Group, which produced the Earth's Earliest Biosphere, ed. by J.W. Schopf (CH, Apr'84). There is only a small amount of overlap in coverage with the earlier work, which concentrated on the earlier Archean era. One can quibble about a few points reproduction of the photographs and many figures is far from first-rate; the book could have been more carefully proofread; and there is much wasted space, adding needlessly to the book's bulk. Also, the binding of the review copy soon began to pull apart. However, this monumental work will be an essential reference for any student of Proterozoic life, from advanced undergraduate to specialist. J. Hannibal; Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
