One of the first interdisciplinary discussions of taphonomy (the study of how fossil assemblages are formed) and paleoecology (the reconstruction of ancient ecosystems), this volume helped establish these relatively new disciplines. It was originally published as part of the influential Prehistoric Archeology and Ecology series. Taphonomy is plainly here to stay, and this book makes a first class introduction to its range and appeal.--Anthony Smith, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews

"A rich historical pastiche of 17th- and 18th-century philosophy, science, and religion."--G. Y. Craig, "New Scientist "
"This book, by a distinguished Italian historian of philosophy, is a worthy successor to the author's important works on Francis Bacon and on technology and the arts. First published in Italian (in 1979), it now makes available to English readers some subtly wrought arguments about the ways in which geology and anthropology challenged biblical chronology and forced changes in the philosophy of history in the early modern era. . . . [Rossi] shows that the search for new answers about human origins spanned many disciplines and involved many fascinating intellects--Bacon, Bayle, Buffon, Burnet, Descartes, Hobbes, Holbach, Hooke, Hume, Hutton, Leibniz, de Maillet, Newton, Pufendorf, Spinoza, Toland, and, most especially, Vico, whose works are impressively and freshly reevaluated here."--Nina Gelbart, " American Scientist
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How does bison meat taste after being frozen for 30,000 years? Were Ice Age cave painters trying to create "art" or just record history? How did ancient oil spills occur, before there were oil companies to create them? Those are just some of the questions renowned paleontologist Bjorn Kurten answers in this collection of lighthearted essays on fossils, ancient life, and related topics. Written for the general reader, these lively pieces range from a look at how scientific theories are created to some new views of old myths. Among the topics Kurten examines are the history of the Mediterranean Sea, the origin of birds, the theory of plate tectonics (continental drift), and the discovery of Piltdown Man, the "missing link" fossil forgery that fooled scientists for more than 40 years.

And, true to its title, the book offers a humorous "recipe" for freezing a mammoth that is tundra-tested, if not totally foolproof. "You may have to expend a few hundred mammoths before everything works out," the reader is cautioned, "But there are plenty of them." (Although the author hasn't tasted the fruits of his mammoth recipe, he did feast on some ancient bison meat that dated from 30,000 years ago. Kurten described the taste as "agreeable.")

Throughout these essays Kurten brings the prehistoric world alive with enthusiasm and humor, emphasizing that paleontology is the study of those that lived long ago instead of those who are long dead. As he says, "Isn't it more fun to see a dinosaur as something that used to live, rather than as the monstrous heap of bones which it happens to be at present?"

William Diller Matthew (1871-1930), who could be called the Father of Mammalian Paleontology, occupies a major position in the history of North American paleontology. In his biography of this paleontologist's paleontologist, Edwin Colbert paints a compelling portrait of the scientist's life and work. Using personal letters, archives, and accounts from those who knew Will Matthew, Colbert presents a delightful and informative account of Matthew's experiences around the turn of the century, complete with photographs of his excavations, world travels, time in New York, family, and environs. Matthew's unique contribution to science rested on his dual perspective as both geologist and paleontologist. He diligently collected and catalogued fossils while at the same time noting stratigraphic details that gave significant time-related information on these fossils. Matthew wrote widely on paleontology at the turn of the century, but most well known is his extensive essay "Climate and Evolution", written in 1915, which attracted almost immediate attention from the paleontological-zoological community. Characteristic of his no-nonsense approach to his work, this essay remains vital and inspirational to paleontological researchers today. Will Matthew was also keen on reaching the public at large and published profusely in the American Museum Journal (which after 1918 became Natural History magazine), where he described his fossil finds, new exhibits, and other interesting research. He also published several American Museum guide leaflets on specific subjects, such as the horse. His informative description "'The Horse', wrote a small boy in his essay, 'is the square animal with a leg at eachcorner, '" - a definition that obviously charmed Matthew. Peppered with such anecdotes, the engaging and highly readable William Diller Matthew, Paleontologist: The Splendid Drama Observed vividly depicts a man respected and revered by many generations of scientists.

The author describes the postcrania of the Miocene marsupials "Ilaria illumidens" and "Ngapakaldia tedfordi" and compares them with those of other vombatiforms and out-group marsupials. A cladistic analysis of postcranial characters shows "Ilaria" to be most closely related to the wombats, primarily on the basis of the highly derived manus. "Ngapakaldia"'s postcranium is more plesiomorphic and most similar to the phalangeriform possums.

This book chronicles the earliest histories of familiar tropical Asian crops in the ancient Middle East and the Mediterranean, from rice and cotton to citruses and cucumbers. Drawing on archaeological materials and textual sources in over seven ancient languages, The Tropical Turn unravels the breathtaking anthropogenic peregrinations of these familiar crops from their homelands in tropical and subtropical Asia to the Middle East and the Mediterranean, showing the significant impact South Asia had on the ecologies, dietary habits, and cultural identities of peoples across the ancient world. In the process, Sureshkumar Muthukumaran offers a fresh narrative history of human connectivity across Afro-Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the late centuries BCE.

Featuring numerous illustrations, this book explores the many lessons to be learned from Pleistocene megafauna, including the role of humans in their extinction, their disappearance at the start of the Sixth Extinction, and what they might teach us about contemporary conservation crises. Long after the extinction of dinosaurs, when humans were still in the Stone Age, woolly rhinos, mammoths, mastodons, sabertooth cats, giant ground sloths, and many other spectacular large animals that are no longer with us roamed the Earth. These animals are regarded as "Pleistocene megafauna," named for the geological era in which they lived-also known as the Ice Age. In Vanished Giants: The Lost World of the Ice Age, paleontologist Anthony J. Stuart explores the lives and environments of these animals, moving between six continents and several key islands. Stuart examines the animals themselves via what we've learned from fossil remains, and he describes the landscapes, climates, vegetation, ecological interactions, and other aspects of the animals' existence. Illustrated throughout, Vanished Giants also offers a picture of the world as it was tens of thousands of years ago when these giants still existed. Unlike the case of the dinosaurs, there was no asteroid strike to blame for the end of their world. Instead, it appears that the giants of the Ice Age were driven to extinction by climate change, human activities-especially hunting-or both. Drawing on the latest evidence provided by radiocarbon dating, Stuart discusses these possibilities. The extinction of Ice Age megafauna can be seen as the beginning of the so-called Sixth Extinction, which is happening right now. This has important implications for understanding the likely fate of present-day animals in the face of contemporary climate change and vastly increasing human populations.