Before retirement Richard Fortey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Fortey) was Professor of Palaeontology at the Natural History Museum. He is a world expert on the trilobites, a group of ancient marine arthropods resembling woodlice which roamed the oceans for almost 300 million years. That’s three thousand times longer than Homo Sapiens have so far been on the planet. The study of these creatures has contributed hugely to our understanding of the evolution of life on Earth.
Trilobite fossils were found at an exciting time for the earth sciences because of the emergence of plate tectonics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_techtonics). The discovery of communities of trilobite fossils was used to reconstruct the shape of the ancient world and Fortey used the new discoveries to help map the geologically very different Palaeozoic continents and seas.
So if the thought of devoting time to a book on ancient marine woodlice seems unexciting, think again. This will greatly deepen your understanding of evolution and life on Earth. This is science at its finest, and the popular communication of science at its best.
Enquire at your local library or consult http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trilobite-Richard-Fortey/dp/0002570122/ref=sr_1_1_twi_3_har?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1432276319&sr=1-1&keywords=trilobite for full bibliographic detail.
Do listen to a discussion between Richard Fortey and Professor Jim Al-Khalili in an episode of The Life Scientific on BBC Radio 4 here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04mcbhp The discussion covers the subject of trilobites.
256 pages in Harper Collins
First published 19 June 2000
ISBN 978-0002570121
Professor Richard Fortey