Fossils: The Evolution and Extinction of Species by Niles Eldredge, Murray Alcosser, Niles Eldridge

From the Publisher

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.

Booknews

Paleontologist Eldredge (curator, Dept. of Invertebrates, American Museum of Natural History, NYC) overturns the traditional view of evolution. Instead of a slow and inevitable process, he shows that life forms, generally, do not evolve to any significant degree until after a massive extinction. Still-life nature photographer Murray Alcosser provides 160 luminous colorplates illustrating some 250 different fossil specimens. The introduction is by Stephen J. Gould. A lovely volume. 11x10". Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

What People Are Saying

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.

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