Trilobites /

The first edition of this book (CH, Dec'75) received an enthusiastic response, and deservedly so. Levi-Setti, professionally a noted physicist, produced an atlas of exquisite macrophotographs of several hundred trilobites from worldwide localities. This new edition continues the reputation of the first and includes a chapter by the author on the discovery of the giant Paradoxides from a shale bed exposed in the gorge of the Manuels River, on the coast of Conception Bay, Eastern Newfoundland. He correlates this with Middle Cambrian strata found today in Wales and Scandinavia. The clarity of detail in the photographs is breathtaking. A short appendix details the techniques of the photography and the specimen preparation involved in this study, and will be very valuable to scholars. Be warned--the techniques are arduous and time consuming. The atlas itself is divided into sections that roughly correspond to the geologic period when specific genera were present, and a listing of all known trilobite families is included. The captions give detailed taxonomic and stratigraphic information as well as general and nontechnical details. In some cases, drawings are included to stress specific features. This reviewer particularly welcomes the new edition, since his copy of the first edition has become totally dog-eared from a generation of students fascinated by its contents. General; undergraduate; graduate. G. Nicholas; Manhattan College