This full color atlas illustrates a range of features not attempted in any general textbook and is designed as a laboratory manual to keep beside the microscope, as an aid to identifying grain types and textures in carbonates.

'Hurray for Mackenzie and Guilford for at last we have a pictorial guide to the rock-forming minerals! . . . such feasts of colour in mineralogy books are rare . . . an admirable guide' New Scientist

This concise, clear and handy–sized volume, aimed at the undergraduate level, provides an introduction to the observation, description and identifi cation in thin section, using the polarizing microscope, of samples of the commonlyoccurring rocks and minerals. Illustrated with a wealth of full colour thin section photomicrographs, and with the original images enhanced by new examples and a revised text, the book explains how to observe mineral and rock samples under the microscope. The boo...

Provides a very clear guide to sedimentary rock types as seen under the microscope supported by practical aspects of slide preparation.

The epic story of the beginning of life on Earth from the much loved and respected naturalist, writer and broadcaster, Sir David Attenborough.Spanning billions of years, Attenborough's time-travelling narrative brings the reader face to face with the first animals that ever existed. By using the latest technology, we are finally able to see for ourselves how these early animals would have looked like and how they would have lived. Attenborough also shows us how some of the evolutio...

There are few stories more remarkable than the evolution of life on earth. This Very Short Introduction presents a succinct guide to the key episodes in that story - from the very origins of life four million years ago to the extraordinary diversity of species around the globe today. Beginning with an explanation of the controversies surrounding the birth of life itself, each following chapter tells of a major breakthrough that made new forms of life possible: including sex and mu...

The mighty dinosaurs were the dominant life form on earth for millions of years. But catastrophe awaited. In what amounts to a geological blink of an eye, the dinosaurs disappeared. This fun-filled fact-book takes you deep into the world of dinosaurs!From Tyrannosaurs to Stegosaurs, The Handy Dinosaur Answer Book profiles numerous species, chronicling their time on Earth and exploring their roles in archaeological expeditions and museums t...

This handy guide covers everything you need to know when looking for fossils in any part of Britain and Europe. Many different types of fossilized objects are included, from plants and coral, to insects, birds and dinosaurs.Collecting fossils is a popular pastime that offers an exciting glimpse of life before man while at the same time takes you to some of the most beautiful landscapes and coastlines.This practical introductory guide provides general fossil identifications ...

How did life begin? What really was 'snowball earth'? Why did the dinosaurs go extinct? Are we all descended from 'African Eve'? Will humans be responsible for the next major extinction? All these are addressed in this fascinating book. The story unfolds with the formation of the earth around four thousand million years ago, though it took until after massive bombardment by asteroids a hundred million years later for life to emerge and another fifteen million years until more complex life ...

This book presents a comprehensive overview of the science of the history of life. Paleobiologists bring many analytical tools to bear in interpreting the fossil record and the book introduces the latest techniques, from multivariate investigations of biogeography and biostratigraphy to engineering analysis of dinosaur skulls, and from homeobox genes to cladistics.All the well-known fossil groups are included, including microfossils and invertebrates, but an important feature is th...

Often concealing millennia worth of Earth’s history, rocks seem to project an impression of durability and permanence that belies their transformation over time. Seen in all shapes and sizes and found in many of the planet’s ecosystems, rocks have been subject to various natural forces that have affected such attributes as their elasticity, strength, and ductility (that is, their ability to be fashioned into a new form). The general properties as well as the three major categories of rock—...

Acclaimed photographer David Maitland’s visual exploration of the myriad structures, shapes, and patterns seen in natureIt might appear at first glance that it is the chaos of the natural world that makes its beauty. But all around us are extraordinary examples of geometry which show that nature’s palette is in fact applied with brushstrokes that follow strict laws and principles.The Shape of Nature reveals a wonderland of recurren...