The latest episode in the greatest fish discovery ever made The appearance of the Coelacanth was like a gigantic tidal wave which washed me violently from my path, held me in its grip, carried me along, and set my feet on a quest that dominated some of the best years of my life.--JLB Smith, Old Fourlegs: The Story of the Coelacanth When scientist JLB Smith published Old Fourlegs: The Story of the Coelacanth in 1956, he created an international sensation. A dramatic account of the discovery of a creature thought to have been extinct for 65 million years, the book brought science into the living rooms of thousands. It was published in six English editions and translated into ten foreign languages. The Annotated Old Fourlegs brings this incredible story back to life for today's readers. Smith's famous account begins with the finding of a strange fish off the coast of South Africa by a local fisherman. As large as a person, the fish had fins like arms and vicious snapping jaws. Smith became certain that what had been caught was the legendary coelacanth, previously known only through fossils. The book follows Smith's obsessive drive to track down other specimens and to learn more about this extraordinary fish that has lived on Earth from the era of the dinosaurs to modern times. The Annotated Old Fourlegs features a facsimile reprint of the original book with extensive margin notes, providing insights on JLB Smith, updates on coelacanth research, and comments on the coelacanth's influence on contemporary culture. Mike Bruton, an ichthyologist who has dedicated his life to continuing the pioneering studies begun by Smith, provides a new introduction and concluding chapters that bring the coelacanth story up to date.

For twenty years, readers of The New York Times have looked forward to the Science Times section every Tuesday as one of the few national forums for high-quality science writing for the layman and an authoritative source for scientists as well. Its features, written by award-winning journalists, deliver cutting-edge information and lucid analysis.The Science Times Book of Fish collects the best articles on fish and other creatures of the sea from Science Times, exploring the biology and environments of aquatic life from the oceans' deepest reaches to lakes and rivers throughout the world. Among the book's surprising discoveries are that the orange roughy lives to be 150 years old and reaches sexual maturity at 30, the cichlids of Africa's Lake Victoria mate for life, and a deep-sea multi-stomached jellyfish exists that can grow as large as a blue whale.With this extraordinary volume comes the satisfaction of having gained a priceless new understanding of the world in which we live. (71/4 X 91/2, 244 pages, illustrations)