Part descriptive overview, part field identification guide and fully understandable, An Introduction to Fossils and Minerals looks at the Earth's history from ground level. Clearly written and illustrated with more than 100 photographs and line drawings, it is a perfect primer for the study and appreciation of rocks, fossils and minerals.The fossils and minerals buried in the Earth's crust contain a record of geologic and biologic activity that sheds light on the happenings of eons past. Starting with the earliest historic periods, An Introduction to Fossils and Minerals examines how fossils can be used to explore the past, how they reveal evidence of evolution and mass extinction of species and how they can be placed in a specific geologic age. The process of fossil formation is explained, including an examination of the fossil family tree, from extinct creatures like trilobites and dinosaurs to the strange and aptly named hallucigenia and a "living fossil," the coelacanth. The author also discusses the formation of crystals and minerals, how they grow and how to identify them, including sections on gems and precious metals. A chapter on rare and unusual rocks and minerals - rocks that follow the sun, whistling stones, minerals that glow in the dark and stones from the sky - uncovers the more peculiar and puzzling geologic finds. The book concludes with a chapter on rock collecting that indicates where and how to collect fossils and minerals.Highly illustrated throughout and complemented by tables packed with information, from a chronology of major ice ages to a listing of fossil finds by state, An Introduction to Fossils and Minerals is the ideal place to start seeking clues to the Earth's past. Read Less