The Tales Fossils Tell Book

Describes fossils, how they are formed, and what they can tell us about life in the past.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-7-Simplistic but useful overviews of three of nature's big puzzles. The first book looks at what Fossils were thought to be before and after "science's dark millennium," pointing out how a clearer picture of life's history had to wait for the development of the twin notions of "extinction" and "evolution." Life Stories describes how the very purpose of studying the heavens changed, from a desire to link the stars to events on Earth to curiosity about what sky phenomena actually are and how we went about refining techniques for finding out. In Origins of Life, between a few paraphrased creation myths and a discussion of the Gaia Hypothesis, Gallant covers the persistent idea of spontaneous generation, discoveries made through microscopy and experimentation, and the revealing, primordial biological communities found around thermal vents. All three volumes are illustrated with an all-color mix of photos, prints, and diagrams accompanied by extensive captions that recapitulate information presented in the main texts. Aside from an occasional nod to the East, both authors promote the traditional Eurocentric scenario that, until very recent times, humanity drifted in seas of ignorance and superstition, guided only by a few sparks of insight from the ancient Greeks. Nonetheless, these accounts of how our modern views of nature and the universe came to be will strengthen any science collection-and if they're a bit parochial, that can be countered with books from the "Science of the Past" series (Watts), or the likes of Suzanne Williams's Made in China (Pacific View, 1996).-John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.