Hands-on Palaeontology a practical manual

A comprehensible reference manual for palaeontologists on many aspects of their science. Topics discussed range from the esoteric, such as palaeoecology and preservation, to the practical, such as the storing of specimens and photography.

CONTENTS:

Acknowledgements.
Sources.
Foreword (by Professor David A.T. Harper, Durham University).
Introduction.
Getting started:

1. How to collect;
2. Where to collect;
3. What to collect;
4. The field notebook;
5. Measuring sections (and why);
6. The Law of Superposition;
7. Fossiliferous sedimentary rocks:
Siliciclastics;
8. Fossiliferous sedimentary rocks: Limestones, cherts and coals;
9. Reworked fossils;
10. Fossils as way-up structures;
11. Fossils as current indicators;
12. Your palaeontological library;
13. Fossils in caves
14. Beachcombing;
15. Common sense in the field;
16. Collecting with a camera;
17. Buying specimens. Some theoretical aspects:
18. Palaeoecology 1: The organism;
19. Palaeoecology 2: Organism meets organism;
20. Palaeoecology 3: Getting more information from the bed;
21. Preservation 1: Fossilization;
22. Preservation 2: Death;
23. Preservation 3: Disarticulation, transport and residence ;
24. Preservation 4: Burial and diagenesis;
25. Trace fossils. Working on your collection at home;
26. Storage;
27. Labelling;
28. Photography at home;
29. Drawing;
30. Specializing in your favourite fossil group;
31. Writing descriptions;
32. Casting from natural moulds;
33. Problems with preservation. The wider field: getting involved;
34. Collaboration;
35. Scientific societies;
36. Conferences;
37. Journals and magazines;
38. Offprints, PDFs and filing;
39. Visiting museums;
40. Ideas for further involvement;
41. Publishing I: Persuading you to get involved;
42. Publishing II: The hard work of self-editing;
43. Publishing III: How to publish a new species. Fossils in many fields:
44. The field guide;
45. Field trip: Den Haag, the Netherlands;
46. Field trip: The Piltdown Trail;
47. Field trip: Overstrand to Cromer, Norfolk;
48. Field trip: Cleveleys, Lancashire;
49. Field trip: Queen Victoria’s bathing beach, Isle of Wight;
50. Field trip: Salthill Quarry, Clitheroe;
51. Field trip: Hurdlow, Derbyshire;
52. Field trip: Antigua.

Glossary.
Index.