BOOK REVIEWS dinosaurs fossils palaeontology urban, art, anthropology

Book review: The Artists and The Scientists Bringing History to Life, by Peter Trusler, Patricia Vickers-Rich and Thomas H Rich

This fascinating book looks at the professional interaction over more than 30 years between a respected husband and wife team of US palaeontologists working for most of their professional lives in Australia (Prof Pat Vickers-Rich and Tom Rich) and a freelance artist (Peter Trusler), as he tries to interpret their work and bring to life ancient organisms and environments.

BOOK REVIEWS geology minerals palaeontology

Book review: Guides to: Fossils & Rocks of the Jurassic / The Geology of the Lake District – an introduction / The Geology of Cornwall – an introduction, by Robert Westwood

These three guides by Robert Westwood are in the same simple format. All are local geological guides to specific areas of the UK and all are illustrated by lovely full colour photographs. They all contain simple, introductory geological introductions for the uninitiated, and then more detailed expositions of what makes the regions so special.

BOOK REVIEWS geology palaeontology

Book review: Geology of the Dorset Coast (Geologists’ Association Guide No 22) (1st edition), by John C W Cope

Whether you are an amateur collector, geology student or professional geologist, the Dorset coast will always hold a special place in most geologists’ hearts. The coastline, which forms part of the ‘Jurassic Coast’ World Heritage Site, has been the stamping ground for the historical great and the good, through to the holidaymakers of today collecting fossils for fun.

BOOK REVIEWS fossils minerals urban, art, anthropology

Book review: Amber: Tears of the Gods, by Neil D L Clark

Normally, I wouldn’t be interested in semi-precious stones and other pretty things. Personally, I prefer grubbing around in the dirt, perhaps for those far more beautiful, elusive and perfectly formed Cretaceous terebratulids or Silurian trilobites. However, some semi-precious stones have the advantage of also providing a tangible link to the ancient history of life.

asia BOOK REVIEWS extra-terrestrial geology historical / biographies space

Book review: The Tunguska Mystery, by Vladimir Rubtsov and Edward Ashpol

It appears that I was naive to assume the Tunguska explosion of 1908 had been adequately explained. It was a meteorite or, more probably, a comet that exploded above a remote area of Siberia. Wrong! This fascinating book shows that we still await an adequate scientific explanation and the jury is still out on what precisely the object was.

BOOK REVIEWS fossils minerals palaeontology

Book review: Fossils in Amber: Remarkable snapshots of prehistoric forest life, by David Penney and David Green

Here at Deposits, we like our amber and this certainly isn’t the first book on the subject I have reviewed. In fact, over the years, we have published many articles on the fossilised sap and its inclusions, and have just finished publishing a short, two-article series by the authors of this excellent little publication.