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Paleolimnology: The History and Evolution of Lake Systems

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I'm a student of paleolimnology. I've read many books on the subject, and the book by Andrew Cohen is by far the best. Traditionally, there have been two types of books on paleolimnology:

1) Books that talk about the science itself and it's application (while not going into much depth on the methods). These books usually interpret results from past studies and look for common themes and trends. Usually, they briefly state what methods were used, but rarely describe the methods or discuss their strengths and weaknesses. It's up to the reader to research the methods more closely on their own.

2) Books that rigorously detail the methods of the science (while not going much into interpreting the results and the meanings of the data found with those methods). These books are best described as "cook books," i.e., books that tell you how to sort through the ingredients. However, these books do not tell you what the results mean. It's up to the reader to consult other references to find this out.

The book by Andrew Cohen takes a different approach, which in my opinion, makes it the best in class. The book goes through many of the various methods used in paleolimnology, describing what they are used for, what they mean, and most importantly, their strengths and weaknesses. This book doesn't go through the methods step by step, but this book is extremely valuable because it combines a myriad of information into one volume. Other books assume that the reader is already versed in paleolimnology and also knows where to look for additional information. The book by Andrew Cohen is suitable for beginners and experts in the field. It combines all of the necessary background information to get beginners started as well as interpretation that will aid experts with their research.

This is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.