I read most of this book while flying from London to St. Louis, and if the recipient does the same (as I suspect he might) it will probably have spent more reading hours in the air than on the ground!

The author spends a bit too much time at the beginning marvelling at the romantic shale cliffs along a section of the english coast, but I encourage readers to get through it (or skip it) because the book definitely gets more interesting from that point on. I particularly enjoyed his comments on the practice of science, and the nature of scientists. Fortey's engaging tangents on scientists and their lives were another highlight. The book is fairly readable, though repetative at times, particularly near the end.

Trilobite! is worth reading just to understand what is known about trilobite vision: fascinating!

Released on Friday, December 19, 2003 at My friend. in Columbia, Missouri USA.

Passed on to Tim. I hope you enjoy it!