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 An Illustrated Guide to Fossil Collecting

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An Illustrated Guide to Fossil Collecting. Casanova & Ratkevich. Beginning guide with numerous and detailed accounts of fossil locations in US and Canada. This easy to understand guide tells how fossils are classified, how to collect, preserve, and mount specimens. Collecting sites given for each state. 200 illustrations, 128 pages. ISBN: 0-87961-113-8. Order #NATG0968 paper$9.95

Book Reviews of An Illustrated Guide to Fossil Collecting.

 1. "This is the third revised edition of this fossil collecting guide for amateurs. Dr. Casanova is a well known paleontologist, author, and editor, and Ronald Ratkevich, author of several fossil books, is a frequent contributor to the Lapidary Journal. In simple and readable language the authors introduce the reader to the romance of fossil collecting from the earliest records to the present. A concise list of various kinds of fossil preservation is given. Then the classification of fossils is described, starting with animal invertebrates, followed by vertebrates and then the division of plants. A condensed history of life on earth puts the various fossils in the correct time frames.

"The beginning collector is told how to prepare for fossil hunting field trips, where to get information, and what to take along. Actual collecting techniques are described. These include specimens as easy as picking up fossil shells which have weathered from the matrix to processes as difficult as making a plaster jacket for a crumbling fossil bone. Considerable attention is given to the importance of cataloging a collection and how to do it. There are also hints on preparation and display. Safety precautions are given for techniques such as acid treatment. A useful list of museums with fossil exhibits is included. Fossil exhibits at state and national parks is a worthwhile addition. Included also are geological survey addresses, a list of paleontological societies, and a glossary.

"A major chapter is on the fossil collecting localities of North America. Some locations are given in detail, but for the most part only major localities are given, and many of them are general rather than specific. Some states may be covered more completely than others. For example there is much more information about fossils in Maryland than in South Dakota, a major fossil locality. The book has a well done glossary and a recommended reading list. It is illustrated with numerous charts and drawings, as well as black and white photographs. Most of the illustrations are clear and well selected. A lot of information is squeezed into a small space. The book will convince most collectors that fossil collecting is fun and not too difficult, and that it would pay them to learn at least the basics, no matter what their field of special interest may be." (Lapidary Journal, April 1982)

2. "The aim of this book is to teach the user to classify fossils down at least as far as order or class, and how to identify a few of the very common or unusual fossils down to genus or possibly species. It is sufficient to start a collection of labeled specimens. One can read the interesting history of the great fossil collectors and their discoveries, find out what a fossil is and how it is formed, or learn the biology of fossils. Included are descriptions of some fossil collecting localities in the United States and Canada, and instructions on how to collect, preserve, and mount specimens. A geological time scale shows the different ages of the earth and the major types of plants and animals that lived in each. Keep this useful guide to fossils and their collecting with you on outings. Often people encounter fossils of great value or interest, but have no idea what to do with them. The rapidly growing number of rock hounds, hobbyists, and students of the earth sciences will find this book very useful during fossil hunting field trips." (California Geology, June 1982)

3. "Nothing could be more appropriate for the treasure hunter than a book all about fossils....Think of it! Prehistory. Life before there was anyone around to record it. What excites us so much is that this evidence of every kind of prehistoric life on earth--fossils--is all around us, waiting to be sought out, held in the hand, examined, and detailed. Now the final part--detailing, or cataloging--is for the professional, the paleontologist. If your curiosity extends that far, part of this book will lead you through the basics. A list of outstanding museum exhibits of fossils will be very useful. But we assume you're like us, amateur fanciers of the past. That's just fine, because fossils were collected and enjoyed for centuries before the scientific community took them in. European gentlemen of the 17th century, for instance, were considered unaccomplished and unlearned unless their cabinet of curiosities included some fossils (though, being gentlemen, they were not expected to have exhumed these stone bones themselves, of course). We're in good company, even if we have to get our hands dirty out in the field.

"If the fossils themselves don't capture your imagination, this book's 'romantic history' of the people who have collected and studied fossils over the centuries surely will. Among the cast of characters: the ancient Greek Hippocrates, father of medicine and collector of the first fossil which has come down through history as an actual specimen; the Chinese of the 6th century who uncovered 'dragon bones,' later learned to be elephants, which therefore once roamed China long before history began to be set down; and President Thomas Jefferson, who piled one room of the White House high with fossil bones brought to him by explorers Lewis and Clark. Now, really--can any of us resist all this? Seeking prehistory is seeking knowledge and a thrill which goes beyond the monetary rewards of even the richest Spanish galleon." (Treasure Magazine, vol. 13, no. 6, June 1982)

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