Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution - Hardcover

Fortey, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375406255 ISBN 13: 9780375406256

Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc, 2000

Synopsis

Turning the clock back several billion years, the author introduces readers the first denizens of planet earth--crustaceans called trilobite that ruled the oceans for three hundred million years. 30,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

With his new book Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution Richard Fortey confirms his status as one of the best communicators of science around today. His hugely enjoyable previous book Life: an Unauthorised Biography was shortlisted for the 1998 Rhone-Poulenc science book prize, but Trilobite is sure to receive even greater acclaim. Whereas Life took the reader on a whistle-stop tour of evolution from start to present--a huge undertaking that necessarily granted little space to each time period or taxonomic group--Trilobite sees Fortey indulging in a whole book about his overriding palaeontological passion, the long extinct and enigmatic creatures of the title. The result is a joy. Trilobites--woodlice-like creatures that dominated the world's oceans long before the time of the dinosaurs--are arguably the most beautiful animals that have ever been chipped out of the fossil record. Fortey certainly seems to think so. His enthusiastic, almost loving explanations of the anatomy, ecology and long evolutionary history of these fascinating vanished creatures carry the reader on a fascinating and inspirational journey into the Earth's distant past. But the book is much more than a technical treatise on trilobites. We learn about Fortey himself, his formative years as an amateur then professional palaeontologist, about his much-loved teachers and colleagues, and above all about that strange but addictive pastime known as science. You may not find arthropods as charming as Fortey does, but you will not fail to be charmed by the man. A delightful read. --Chris Lavers

Review:

?[W]onderful reading about a charming group of gone-but-not-forgotten creatures. Natural History

?[F]ortey gives a passionate and often lyrical account of his life with trilobites. Nature

?Fortey is...a gifted writer who shares his knowledge with grace and verve.... Trilobite is about seeing and the search for truth. The New York Times Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0375406255
• ISBN 13: 9780375406256
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 284