Fossils of the Burgess Shale (Paperback)

by Derek E. G. Briggs (Author), Douglas H. Erwin (Author), Frederick J. Collier (Author), Chip Clark (Photographer)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
You might think a listing of the fossils found in a single site would not be all that interesting, but the Burgess Shale collection is extraordinary. For whereas most fossilization preserves hard tissues like bones, teeth, and shells, the geologic forces that formed the Burgess Shale also preserved soft tissues. The shale's fossil animals and plants are from the Cambrian, an era long before the dinosaurs during which a remarkable array of living things came into being. The site itself, in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, was discovered early in this century. Its full import wasn't grasped for many years, but the discoveries it eventually afforded, even if they don't include T. Rexes, certainly rival those made by any dinosaur hunter. Although looking--as this book lets us, up close and in detail--at fossilized sponges, algae, worms, and such may not inspire another Jurassic Park, budding and armchair paleontologists will have a field day, even though the accompanying text is thick with technical talk. Jon Kartman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Smithsonian (June 17, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156098659X
• ISBN-13: 978-1560986591
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #613,280 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Fossils of the Burgess Shale, July 31, 2004

By	Joe Zika "Khemprof" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

"The Fossils of the Burgess Shale" written by Derek E.G. Briggs, Douglas H. Erwin, and Frederick J. Collier and photographs by Chip Clark is simply a marvelous book about early Cambrian life some 540 million years ago. We get a rare look into life's past and what makes the Burgess Shale such a significant part of life's mystery is that these fossils, in most cases, are soft- bodied fauna and flora.

"The Fossils of the Burgess Shale" is a snapshot into life's past and there are only a few locations (30) left that can afford such a look ( China, Central America, Greenland, Spain, Poland, and Southern Australia). Found in 1909 by Charles D. Walcott, high in the Rocky Mountains of Canada, now part of Yoho Park in British Columbia, who had a huge collection of these remarkable fossils shipped back to the Smithsonian Institution where he was Secretary. Today the Cambrian is among the most intensively studied intervals in the history of life, and the debate rages over what triggered the rapid appearance of most major groups of animals.

The photographs in this book are a major accomplishment as it affords the reader with an example of the fossil in question along with a line drawing of what this particular flora of fauna looked like. Thus, making the reader aware of what the authors are talking about.

If you've ever read "It's a Wonderful Life" by Stephen Jay Gould or "The Crucible of Creation" by Simon Conway-Morris "The Fossils of the Burgess Shale" will make a great companion book that explains some of the personalized conclusions that are found in these books and it makes it very clear as to what they are discussing. The preservation of soft-bodied animals is not evenly distributed through the fossil record. Thus, making this book all the more important concerning about what life was like.

The first few pages of the book explains where the Burgess Shale is and its significance and the major players in which have played an important part in the furthering the knowledge of these fossil remains, how fossilization probably occured.

The remainder of the book is devoted to the fossils of the Burgess Shale, with illustrations, discussions, full page photographs and reconstructions of 85 out of 125 recognized genra. The text accompanying the illustrations aims to provide an outline of the morphology, mode of life, and the affinities of the organism. There is ample identification of the sample fossils so the specialist can search for further data.

"The Fossils of the Burgess Shale" is rated a solid 5 stars and is one of the best books that I've found for life in the Cambrian. You will not be dissapointed with this book as it delivers in spades.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richard F., July 31, 2001

By	Richard Frizzell "rfrizzell" (Anaheim, CA United States) - See all my reviews

"The Fossils of the Burgess Shale," the non-geologist will find this book fascinating and understandable - yet the author did not "water down" the facts for those of us who have the technical background in the fields of geology and paleontology. The only drawback of the book was that some of the species listed in the back were not included in the pictorial portion of the book. I do understand that if Briggs had placed them all in the book the volume would have been over a 1,000 pages in length; however, several of the species not included are equally spectacular!

The first third of the book provides a brief history of the site and it's significance within Cambrian paleontology; the remaining two-third portion of the book provides clear photographs and line drawings of the animals entombed in this special location. I have used this book in teaching about the Cambrian explosion. Students were awed by the content of the book. If you are interested in invertebrate paleontology; this book is a must!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, October 10, 2001

By	Scott Zasadil (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This is a wonderful book. It is chock-full of photographs of Burgess shale fossils. The photographs are full page photographs and are accompanied by drawings that illustrate what the plant or animal probably looked like. The text is informative and easy to follow for a layperson.