Nebraska has an excellent geological record, which is celebrated by some fine mosaics at the Nebraska State Capitol. When the building was being constructed, and at the request of Prof Hartley Burr Alexander of the Philosophy Department and from drawings by a colleague, the artist, Hildreth Meière, was asked to create a series of mosaics. These are now set out on the floor of the rotunda for all to see.
Recently, I have finished the Great Silurian Controversy, a magnificent book about the nineteenth century arguments over the age of the lower Palaeozoic greywackes/sediments of Devon, and the creation of the concept of the Devonian. And reading The Lewisian: Britain’s oldest rocks by Graham Park, it occurs to me that this should perhaps be called, The Great Lewisian Controversy. It shares the same historical and scientific intentions, and the same grand sweep of scientific history, this time from the early twentieth century – namely, the exploration over decades of the geology of the Lewisian of northwest Scotland.
Any serious collector of fossils will certainly have heard of the famous Green River, Morrison and Hell Creek formations. These, are not commonly detailed in guides that can easily be obtained in the UK – that is until now. Dr John R Nudds from the University of Manchester, UK, has teamed up with Dr Paul A Selden from the University of Kansas, USA, to produce this outstanding publication.
Dr David Penney, founder and owner of the excellent Siri Scientific Presshas writen about Miocene spider inclusions in amber from deposits of the Dominican Republic. This is one of the many books on fossil spiders and insects that Siri Scientific Press publishes.
Professor Robert Diffendal Jr’s little guidebook to the Great Plains of the USA makes for a fascinating read for an Englishman like me, who has never been there (but wants to). He makes it plain that they rarely correspond to the impression most people have of them.
