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Cambrian Ocean World: Ancient Sea Life of North America (Life of the Past) Kindle Edition

by John Foster (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 out of 5 stars 139 ratings

A comprehensive guide to the evolution of life during the Cambrian Period, and a story of one man’s search for the world’s oldest animal fossils.

“Told with a wry humor, the odd pop cultural/sci-fi reference, and personal anecdotes, Foster does a great job in making this an enjoyable read and bringing the Cambrian to us. An alien world is transformed before our eyes into one that is increasingly more familiar.” —Quarterly Review of Biology

This volume, aimed at the general reader, presents the life and times of the amazing animals that inhabited Earth more than five hundred million years ago. The Cambrian Period was a critical time in Earth’s history. During this immense span of time nearly every modern group of animals appeared. Although life had been around for more than two million millennia, Cambrian rocks preserve the record of the first appearance of complex animals with eyes, protective skeletons, antennae, and complex ecologies. Grazing, predation, and multi-tiered ecosystems with animals living in, on, or above the sea floor became common. The cascade of interaction led to an ever-increasing diversification of animal body types. By the end of the period, the ancestors of sponges, corals, jellyfish, worms, mollusks, brachiopods, arthropods, echinoderms, and vertebrates were all in place. The evidence of this Cambrian “explosion” is preserved in rocks all over the world, including North America, where the seemingly strange animals of the period are preserved in exquisite detail in deposits such as the Burgess Shale in British Columbia. Cambrian Ocean World tells the story of what is, for us, the most important period in our planet’s long history.

“Definitely the best introductory textbook within its field. It is clearly worth reading.” —Deposits Magazine

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  1. Part of series
    Life of the Past
  2. Print length
    457 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Indiana University Press
  5. Publication date
    June 6, 2014
  6. File size
    22.1 MB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"In Cambrian Ocean World, John Foster demonstrates how some of the most challenging and significant questions about the early diversification of animal life in the sea can be addressed by the extensive fossil and rock record of the Cambrian Period found across North America. Written in a style that will engage both lay readers as well as researchers, this profusely illustrated and thoroughly researched book is an up-to-date and comprehensive exploration of one of the most critical periods in evolutionary history."―David L. Meyer, coauthor of A Sea without Fish

"Based on a chronological transect of the Cambrian and the Cambrian radiation, and bringing in expert knowledge from researchers around the globe, Foster revels in details and thereby exposes his most profound interest - and love - of past life and palaeontology. The result is a staggering 432 pages of delight - containing a lot of information, combined with many beautiful illustrations and figures. . . . This volume leaves you with a lasting impression and is, in my opinion, at present . . . definitely the best introductory textbook within its field. It is clearly worth reading."―Deposits Magazine

"Told with a wry humor, the odd pop cultural/sci-fi reference, and personal anecdotes, Foster does a great job in making this an enjoyable read and bringing the Cambrian to us. An alien world is transformed before our eyes into one that is increasingly more familiar. Although written for general readers, students and researchers of paleontology may also benefit from this volume."―Quarterly Review of Biology

"A must have for anyone with an interest in the fossils from this time period."―Birdbooker Report

"The Cambrian is passionately profiled in Cambrian Ocean World, part of the 'Life of the Past' series. Foster . . . has spent several decades collecting Cambrian fossils in the western US. His book is both a comprehensive guide to the evolution of life during the Cambrian and a narrative of his experiences hunting for the world's oldest animal fossils. The ten chapters follow the evolution of animals, ecosystems, and environments during the Cambrian, beginning with an alien world and culminating in an ocean realm that seems familiar, with sponges, mollusks, corals, and fish. The book is richly illustrated with hundreds of photographs of fossils Foster has collected, and short profiles of paleontologists provide a personal touch. . . . Highly recommended."―Choice

Review

In Cambrian Ocean World, John Foster demonstrates how some of the most challenging and significant questions about the early diversification of animal life in the sea can be addressed by the extensive fossil and rock record of the Cambrian Period found across North America. Written in a style that will engage both lay readers as well as researchers, this profusely illustrated and thoroughly researched book is an up-to-date and comprehensive exploration of one of the most critical periods in evolutionary history.

-- David L. Meyer ― coauthor of A Sea without Fish

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00NHKSEP8
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Indiana University Press; Illustrated edition (June 6, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 6, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 22.1 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 457 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0253011825
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 139 ratings

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  1. John Foster

    John Foster

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    John Foster is a paleontologist at the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum in Vernal, Utah. He grew up in California obsessed with sharks and space and only discovered paleontology in college because as a geology major at Occidental College he could not stop looking for trilobites while assigned field mapping class projects in the Mojave Desert. This diverted him from marine biology and geology into invertebrate and then vertebrate paleontology in graduate school at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and then the University of Colorado. His main research interests are in the Cambrian and Jurassic periods of Earth history. He has worked on paleontological projects in Cambrian rocks of the western United States from Arizona up to Idaho and Wyoming, but especially in California, Nevada, and Utah. He began working in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation in the Black Hills in 1991 and has conducted fieldwork in the formation for nearly 30 field seasons at quarries in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and South Dakota.

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  2. John Russell Foster

    John Russell Foster

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
139 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book provides extensive suggestions for further reading and serves as an excellent academic introduction to Cambrian ecology, with one customer noting how it helps envision the Cambrian world. Moreover, the book features beautiful photographs of the fossils. However, the pacing receives mixed feedback, with some customers finding it very detailed while others note it's not suitable for beginners.

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11 customers mention "Reading ability"11 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's reading ability, with one noting its extensive suggestions for further reading, and another highlighting its scientific detail and extended discussion of theories.

"...The author is a very experienced and knowledgeable field paleontologist with a self-professed obsession for trilobites...." Read more

"...There's extended discussion of the various theories behind the Cambrian Explosion and why it happened...." Read more

"...book for beginners but there is a great glossary and extensive suggestions for further reading...." Read more

"...ago, this was a reprise but much broader in scope and with newer findings/research...." Read more

7 customers mention "Paleontology"7 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's paleontological content, with one describing it as a wonderful short course in Cambrian paleontology, while another notes how it helps envision the Cambrian world.

"...the Burgess Shale are discussed in detail and give the most complete picture of Cambrian life because the site facilitated fossilization of soft..." Read more

"...You get a lot here: details on fossilization, paleontological fields and approaches, the prehistoric geology that led to these beds, and much more...." Read more

"Excellent book on the Cambrian in North America. I am a long time invertebrate fossil collector and for me this book was pure gold...." Read more

"The book is about the Cambrian period, a time some 500 million years ago, when there was an explosion of life forms...." Read more

4 customers mention "Visual quality"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the beautiful photographs of the fossils in the book.

"...Shale site, Canada’s website (The Burgess Shale) offers beautiful photographs of the fossils, 2D and 3D life restorations as well as 3D videos of..." Read more

"...I recommend The Trilobite Book recently out too. The photographs of the fossils are spectacular!" Read more

"...Trilobites were fascinating in size and their fossils were interesting to look at. Just one of the many creatures of the Cambrian." Read more

"...Nice organization, great illustrations and the writer has a dry wit that adds to the enjoyment. Loved it." Read more

6 customers mention "Pacing"3 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book, with some finding it very detailed while others note it is not suitable for beginners.

"...Evolution is written big and wide, understandable and amazing. I will donate it to my local high school library...." Read more

"...One major caveat: this is not a book for beginners but there is a great glossary and extensive suggestions for further reading...." Read more

"...by the lifeforms of the Cambrian "Explosion." The book is very detailed & scientific (not for kids)...." Read more

"Technical but down to earth..." Read more

Good book but inconsiderate binding
3 out of 5 stars
Good book but inconsiderate binding
The book is great. But the binding of this book can be improved, the right margin of the left page is too small. So when you read you have to push the book to open wider.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • WLC
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Short-Course in Cambrian Paleontology
    Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This is the first serious paleontology book I have read, and it was a wonderful learning experience for me. I am a retired educator in the vertebrate biological sciences and have recently become a self-taught student of geology through textbooks, online videos and visits to a few notable US geologic sites.
    The author is a very experienced and knowledgeable field paleontologist with a self-professed obsession for trilobites. He very ably shared his knowledge of and enthusiasm for searching for Cambrian fossils in biostratographic units in arid and mountainous regions of the North American West.

    This book concentrates on Cambrian fossils and biological features of the lifeforms found primarily in strata that formed at ocean sites off the Paleozoic continent of Laurentia which went on to become the geologic core of North America. The Cambrian Radiation in these oceans over 53 million years led from simple sponges and metazoan colonies in the Ediacaran period to the development of every major body plan or Phylum of animal that is on Earth today. These newly evolved organisms were fossilized to varying degrees in the shale and limestone that formed at Cambrian fossil sites in North America such as the Burgess Shale deposit in British Columbia and the Wheeler formation in Utah.

    Fossils found in the Burgess Shale are discussed in detail and give the most complete picture of Cambrian life because the site facilitated fossilization of soft body parts that are lost in most other Cambrian sites. Factors controlling formation and persistence of fossils are discussed, and the science and art of evaluating Cambrian populations and ecology are presented. Introductory chapters on geologic principles important in understanding Cambrian paleontology are brief and helpful to set the stage for what is presented. The sections on trilobite anatomy, physiology and ecology are excellent. I appreciated that the author has mini-sections recognizing notable current and upcoming scholars in the field of Cambrian paleontology.

    Reading/Studying the Book for Maximum Learning Effect
    I also purchased the Audible version of the book and studied the Kindle version including illustrations and photos on my laptop while listening to the Audible version at 1.35x speed. I was also simultaneously reviewing information for fossils described on my desktop (mostly Wikipedia entries). For fossils from the Burgess Shale site, Canada’s website (The Burgess Shale) offers beautiful photographs of the fossils, 2D and 3D life restorations as well as 3D videos of the animals in their environment which go together well with the book author’s descriptions of the animal’s anatomy, locomotion and other biological characteristics. The Audible version narrator does an excellent job. For many of the sections, it was like attending lectures by a really great college professor with superb speaking and teaching ability. The narrator’s delivery helped me with pronunciations of many of the fossil names and also helped me enjoy many of the self-deprecating and other humorous comments that the author makes amid highly technical passages. Sitting back and listening to the narration of author’s descriptions of his trips to remote, arid stratigraphy sites in Nevada and California was like being there.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Vincent G. Sherwin
    5.0 out of 5 stars For Anyone Looking to Dig Deep on the Cambrian
    Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This book is for you. The author walks you through the Cambrian Period via a series of fossil beds, mostly in North America. You get a lot here: details on fossilization, paleontological fields and approaches, the prehistoric geology that led to these beds, and much more. Some of this gets a little dry and technical for an amateur enthusiast like myself. But I did learn a lot more than I had even hoped. The coverage of the various creatures and phyla of the Cambrian is excellent. There's extended discussion of the various theories behind the Cambrian Explosion and why it happened. The book helped me to envision the Cambrian world and has increased my desire to look for fossils on my next trip out West.
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  • David H. (Austin)
    4.0 out of 5 stars Not for beginners, but biostratigraphers will be more than happy with this book
    Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    It pains me to give this book just four stars but it is more properly a study of the biostratigraphy of the Cambrian Era, mostly in the United States and although pelagic forms are discussed, the book more concentrates on benthic creatures. The stress is hardly oceanic: more like close inshore areas, alluvial fans, and shallow cratonic transgressions.

    It takes over 100 pages to get to the discussion of animals in some detail and then, again too much concentration on stratigraphy. Yes, that's important or even crucial, but the life forms themselves are shortchanged in favor of the rocks. Trilobites receive their due but the discussions seem interminable and, for example, too little is made of the incredible variety of eyes these creatures had. I was hoping for detail on such marvelous creatures like Wiwaxia, Marella, and the impossible-to-conceive Opabinia. They're all there but there isn't much new here.

    Not all is this way. Foster, in talking about the wide array of trilobites found in situ altogether, sensibly suggests that the array bespeaks a certainty that the trilobites had many ways of making a living. Another example: Foster casts doubt on the idea that Anomalocaris was probably not 'the terror of the Cambrian seas' as has been posited ever since the creature's various fossilized parts were determined to be from one animal. More likely, considering the mouth plates, the animal was a scavenger or preyed on softer animals. Indeed, bite marks on trilobite fossil could have come from predatory trilobites. I was also happily surprised that Anomalocaris was just one species of an anomalocaridid family.

    For me, unfortunately, there was little sense of wonder like that in books by Stephen Gould and Simon Conway Morris. That is a personal observation only, as others I am sure will hardly be able to put this book down. One major caveat: this is not a book for beginners but there is a great glossary and extensive suggestions for further reading. 3.5 stars, for me, but 3 stars are not warranted, hence the four star rating posted.
    27 people found this helpful
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  • BGRT
    5.0 out of 5 stars Having read Gould's Wonderful Life years ago
    Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Worth every penny of the cost! Having read Gould's Wonderful Life years ago, this was a reprise but much broader in scope and with newer findings/research. The mental image you develop of the Earth during those bygone eons is thrilling. Evolution is written big and wide, understandable and amazing. I will donate it to my local high school library. Hopefully some youngster will pick it up, be inspired and enlightened.

    I recommend The Trilobite Book recently out too. The photographs of the fossils are spectacular!
    13 people found this helpful
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  • Bruce
    5.0 out of 5 stars Detailed Coverage of the Cambrian in America
    Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Excellent book on the Cambrian in North America. I am a long time invertebrate fossil collector and for me this book was pure gold. There is very little popular coverage of the Cambrian beyond accounts of the Cambrian explosion. This book did a great job integrating geology with biology while keeping things lively. In general the Indiana University Press, Life of the Past, series has been gift to the enthusiastic amateur.
    18 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Peter Clack
    5.0 out of 5 stars Reality is a story worth encountering. This is life in the Cambrian Explosion by an expert.
    Reviewed in Australia on September 22, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Yes it's got academic phrases buts it's deeper truth iscwell worth the occasional struggle. An epic story.
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  • Justin William Miles
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
    Reviewed in Canada on September 26, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Great read if you’re a Cambrian fan. Very detailed- you might get dizzy trying to remember all the trilobite names...
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  • Anthony Brook
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 13, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Wonderful book on the development of life on planet Earth
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  • Paulo Freire
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very entertaining!
    Reviewed in Germany on February 9, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    This book is very well written. I have just started it, and found it a great pleasure to read. I am transported to that time 542 million years ago.
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  • DiveDoc
    3.0 out of 5 stars Who knew that science was parochial?
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 16, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    This would have been a marvellous book, were it not for American exceptionalism. The USA does not extend backwards in time to the Cambrian, and there are real difficulties in describing the ancient world from a parochial, if geologically well-endowed, isolation. The story is incomplete and distorted.
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