An Introduction to Paleobotany

Abstract

THE author of this book is one who has made valuable additions to our knowledge of American fossil plants, especially those of the Devonian period. Here he has produced a very comprehensive treatment of the whole subject, and deals with the history of the plant world from the earliest periods in which we find evidence of the existence of plant-life down to the present day. He discusses the bearing of the evidence furnished by fossil plants on past climates, distribution of floras over the earth‘s surface and Wegener‘s theory : there is an excellent chapter on fossilization. Something more might have been added on the methods used in palaeobotanical investigations, for they furnish a very clear idea of the physical nature of fossil plants. His deliberate selection of American examples makes the book of greater value to the American student than to those who are not acquainted with details of American geography and geology. An Introduction to Paleobotany By Prof. Chester A. Arnold. (McGraw-Hill Publications in the Botanical Sciences.) Pp. xi + 433. (New York and London: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1947.) 27s. 6d.