Why read The Meaning of Fossils?

Book cover of The Meaning of Fossils: Episodes in the History of Palaeontology

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"It is not often that a work can literally rewrite a person's view of a subject. And this is exactly what Rudwick's book should do for many paleontologists' view of the history of their own field."-Stephen J. Gould, Paleobotany and Palynology

"Rudwick has not merely written the first book-length history…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Meaning of Fossils as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Andrew H. Knoll

Author

It’s one thing to appreciate that fossils record the history of life, but something else altogether to understand how we came to know that. Rudwick’s classic book recounts the discoveries, large and small, that over centuries revealed fossils to be remnants of lost worlds. An exceptional exercise in the history of science. The Meaning of Fossils is required reading for students of paleontology.

From Andrew's list on The best books about fossils and the history of life.