Overview
In this fascinating exploration of the fossil record, Niles Eldredge overturns the traditional view of evolution as a slow and inevitable process, and he shows that lifeforms generally do not evolve to any significant degree until after massive extinction. This rhythm of life—a concept developed by Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould known as punctuated equilibria in evolution— is revealed by the fossilized remains of the earth's ancient flora and fauna. Distinguished photographer Murray Alcosser augments Eldredge's text with 160 luminous color plates illustrating more than 250 different fossil specimens. In this new paperback edition, Fossils becomes an accessible text with appeal to a broad audience, including natural history readers and students.
Synopsis
Fossils, with its stimulating text and the best photographs of fossils ever published, is indeed splendid."—Ernest Mayr, author of The Growth of Biological Thought
Eldredge has cleverly combined our knowledge of living organisms with instructive insights into the fossil record to convincingly argue that evolution is, indeed, the grand unifying idea of biology."—Donald C. Johanson, author of Lucy: The Beginning of Humankind
New Scientist
Fossils goes a long way toward bridging the gap between information and aesthetic satisfaction. . . . More than a picture book: it is a readable and informative text on the history of life, its geology, biology, and anthropology. Living fossils, stratigraphy, extinction, and evolution are all here.