Geerat Vermeij wrote this "celebration of shells" to share his enthusiasm for these supremely elegant creations and what they can teach us about nature. Most other popular books on shells emphasize the identification of species, but Vermeij uses shells as a way to explore major ideas in biology. How are shells built? How do they work? How did they evolve? With these questions in mind, the author lucidly - and charmingly - demonstrates how shells give us insights into the lives of animals in our own day as well as in the distant geological past. As snails, clams, and other molluscs enlarge their shells, they inscribe a detailed record of the everyday events and unusual circumstances that mark their lives. Moreover, the fossil record that chronicles the history of life is replete with shells of extinct species. Vermeij draws on comparisons of shells from different parts of the world and from successive geological periods to argue that predators have played a decisive role in the evolution of shells. Architectural specialization, he argues, is dictated by the risks, rewards, costs, and benefits imposed by predators and competitors on shell-builders living in a dangerous world. This book will be of interest both to amateur shell collectors and to scholars, and its lively review of evolutionary history should prove especially appealing to a general audience.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
Vermeij provides an elegantly written and beautifully illustrated account of shell construction, function, and evolution, while showing how these molluscan houses give us insights into ecology and the history of life. [It is a] book that will be treasured by scientists and lay readers alike. -- Nature
A Natural History of Shells is a fascinating biological view of shells as the products of living organisms....We come to appreciate and understand the diverse wonders of economy, function, and construction that can be seen in shells. -- Douglas Palmer, New Scientist
This is a pleasingly different book. Most other popular books on shells help one to identify them. In this book Vermeij uses shells to help understand the ecology, evolution, and history of snails, clams, and other Mollusca, the phylum of animals that construct 'shells.' . . . This book uses both contemporary and fossil shells to explore many ideas and processes in general biology. . . . I have been seeking this book for years. -- The Quarterly Review of Biology
I was swept away by the world of molluscs and found myself fascinated and informed. . . . By the end of the book I was convinced that anyone with a passion for their subject would enjoy and be educated by Vermeij's obvious passion for his. -- Biologist
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Transformed my view of nature,
This review is from: A Natural History of Shells (Princeton Science Library) (Paperback)
Vermeij is a man who, although blind, sees the pattern and meaning behind objects in the natural world with insight that is truly transformative. Although this book is about shells, and only shells, it relates them to evolution and geography in a way that takes the read way beyond its nomitive subject matter to something that should widen the mind of any curious reader.
5.0 out of 5 stars
special book,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Natural History of Shells (Princeton Science Library) (Paperback)
Very good and very special. It is not a identification book like most so it gives background of the shells that all of the other books contain pictures of. Very informative.
5.0 out of 5 stars
good book,
A Kid's Review
This review is from: A Natural History of Shells (Princeton Science Library) (Paperback)
Very good book, It came highly recommended and was special in so far as it was not a species identification book. The Author, the Perspective, and the Scope of the book are all extraordinary.
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