Burgess Shale Books

[deanm]

Slowly creating and adding to my Burgess Shale and associated time period book collection.



I have a couple of digital books & papers also - those are a bit harder to shot a photo of though...

ROM website has some nice Burgess Shale PDFs

One more book on order... Eagerly awaiting it.

[stoneage]

I didn't realize there were so many books out there.  Which one do you think is the best and why?

[deanm]

Science-wise, Simon Conway Morris's "The Crucible of Creation" far exceeds Steven J Gould's Wonderful Life. Simon worked extensively on the Burgess Shales and his book reflects that plus it is a great synthesis of the current state of the field 10 years ago.  There was a fair amount of professional acrimony between Gould and Morris regarding Gould's interpretation of the Burgess Shales and their meaning - some of which does spill into Morris's book.

Having said the above, my favourite is "The fossils of the Burgess Shale", a wonderful photographic survey of the fossil material. Highly recommended for Cambrian life aficionados. If I get a chance, I'll see if I can snap a few example pics and post them.

[Gwangi]

I have a copy of "Wonderful Life" but didn't realize there were so many books on the subject. I'm very intrigued by the photographic book you mention and would love to see some samples.

[deanm]

Just arrived in the mail today. My initial impression after a very quick scan is that it is very good!!!! I will be reading it tonight. I will post more about it over the next few days.