Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-259) and index.
Fossil preservation -- Tracks, trails, and footprints -- Marine fossils: Creatures preserved from the sea : Protistids -- Sponges -- Coelenterates -- Bryozoans -- Brachiopods -- Mollusks -- Annelids -- Arthropods -- Echinoderms -- Vertebrates -- Terrestrial fossils: creatures preserved from the land : Land plants -- Amphibians -- Reptiles -- Dinosaurs -- Birds -- Mammals -- Crystals and minerals: basic building blocks of rocks : Crystals -- Identification of minerals -- The rock-forming minerals -- Ore deposits.
Gems and precious metals: minerals of great value : Quartz gems -- Transparent gems -- Opaque gems -- Diamonds -- Gold and silver -- Precious metals and rare earths -- The rare and unusual: rocks with unique properties : Rocks that follow the sun -- Minerals that reverse themselves -- Halos of stone -- Whistling stones -- Stone pillars -- Minerals that glow in the dark -- Lightning fast glass -- Stones from the sky -- Where fossils and minerals are found : Fossil-bearing rocks -- Mineral-bearing rocks -- Geologic maps -- Collecting fossils and minerals.
The earth's history: understanding our planet's past : The precambrian era -- The paleozoic era -- The mesozoic era -- The cenosoic era -- The pleistocene ice age -- Clues to the past: The principles of paleontology : Keys to the history of life -- Evidence for evolution -- Mass extinctions -- Geologic age dating -- The geologic time scale -- Rock types: the rock-forming process : Igneous rocks -- Sedimentary rocks -- Metamorphic rocks -- Fossil formation: the preservation of past life : The fossil family tree -- The sedimentary environment.
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Discusses the Earth's early history, marine and terrestrial fossils, crystals and minerals, rock types, and gems and precious metals.