Fossils for Amateurs: A Handbook

Fossils for Amateurs: A Handbook by Macfall, Russell P. & J.C. Wollin. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780442250607.

Fossils for Amateurs is delightful armchair reading even if you arent a fossil collector or rock hound. It is a practical handbook that tells you how to find, collect, classify, prepare, and exhibit fossils. It teaches you enough geology so that you can locate your own fossil sites, and enough paleontology so that you can make a stab at categorizing a fossil you have never seen before and relating it generally to the evolution of the earth and its life forms. It explains simple and advanced techniques of cleaning fossils to bring out their distinctive characteristics, and various special techniques such as grinding thin sections, peeling and casting. There is even a chapter on microfossils and how to study them. The Appendix includes an excellent list of recommended books, state-by-state lists of sources of further information, and an extensive map section showing the geological structure of each state. There is a comprehensive quick-reference index, and nearly 200 photographs and drawings. Fossils for Amateurs is the collectors bible.