Paleontology is one of the most visible yet most misunderstood fields of science. Children dream of becoming paleontologists when they grow up. Museum visitors flock to exhibits on dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. The media reports on fossil discoveries and new clues to mass extinctions. Nonetheless, misconceptions abound: paleontologists are assumed only to be interested in dinosaurs, and they are all too often imagined as bearded white men in battered cowboy hats.
Roy Plotnick provides a behind-the-scenes look at paleontology as it exists today in all its complexity. He explores the field’s aims, methods, and possibilities, with an emphasis on the compelling personal stories of the scientists who have made it a career. Paleontologists study the entire history of life on Earth; they do not only use hammers and chisels to unearth fossils but are just as likely to work with cutting-edge computing technology. Plotnick presents the big questions about life’s history that drive paleontological research and shows why knowledge of Earth’s past is essential to understanding present-day environmental crises. He introduces readers to the diverse group of people of all genders, races, and international backgrounds who make up the twenty-first-century paleontology community, foregrounding their perspectives and firsthand narratives. He also frankly discusses the many challenges that face the profession, with key takeaways for aspiring scientists. Candid and comprehensive, Explorers of Deep Time is essential reading for anyone curious about the everyday work of real-life paleontologists.
ISBN-13: 9780231195348
Media Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication Date: 01-04-2022
Pages: 344
Product Dimensions: 6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)
Roy Plotnick is professor emeritus in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is a fellow of the Geological Society of America and the Paleontological Society.
Table of Contents
Part I. Deep Time
1. Those Who Know the Past
2. We Have the Best Questions
3. I’m Not Ross (or Indiana Jones)
Part II. Exploring Deep Time
4. Attending Marvels
5. Safe Places
6. Cool Toys
7. Big Data and the Big Picture
8. The Ends of the Worlds as We Know Them
9. Lessons for and from the Living
Part III. Explorers of Deep Time
10. The Education of a Paleontologist
11. Living in the Real World
12. The Face of Paleontology
13. The Third Reviewer
14. Conferring, Conversing, and Otherwise Hobnobbing
15. Fighting Over Scraps
Part IV. Deep Time and the Broad World
16. This Land Is Your Land, Your Fossil Is My Fossil
17. For the Love of Fossils
18. Presenting the Past
19. Those Who Do Not Know the Past
20. Drawing on the Past
21. The World of Paleontology
22. Last Thoughts: SWOT-ing at Paleontology
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
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