Fossils
The Key to the Past

"Fossils: The Key to the Past is a clear and comprehensive guide to all aspects of fossils and their use in reconstructing the history of life on Earth. This stunning new edition has been completely revised, updated and extended, reflecting advances in our understanding of the fossil record and the significance of new fossil finds.

Extensively illustrated throughout with photographs from the rich collections at the Natural History Museum, London, this fourth edition includes additional chapters on How to Recognize Fossils, Fossils and Human Evolution and Molecular Palaeontology.


Richard Fortey is a celebrated popular science writer and former senior palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum, London. He is the author of several books and has won both the Lewis Thomas and Michael Faraday prizes for his science writing. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1997.