This book goes over the basic generalities of fossils and then fossil collecting, followed by a brief guide to the history of life.

It was OK - sufficiently OK that I'm keeping it rathar than passing it on; it was well-designed and well-written and has some good info - but I have issues with it. I can't tell if it's aimed at children or adults; the general level of the writing seems to assume children, but then it assumes the readers will be using power tools and toxic chemicals alone and going on solo expeditions, so I am confused. This could explain why it failed to get checkouts at the library.

It also had absolutely nothing about the ethics of private fossil collection vs. scientific excavation and study, except one tiny box that suggested that if you find something really spectacular you should tell a scientist because you might get it named after you. Which is great as far as it goes but really, really doesn't cover the massive complexities of the ethical debates going on there.

Beyond that, it was just really vague, in such a way that I'm questioning how useful it would actually be. And like nearly all fossil guides I have read, it reflects an experience of amateur fossil collecting that really has very little to do with my lifetime's experience (and involves finding far more spectacular stuff...) without mentioning any of the actually useful advice I have given and gotten. Similarly, the "guide to fossils" pages, while they're an ok overview of the history of life, are really really unlikely to help anybody ID any fossils except in the most general way. ( )