‘Tracking Trilobites’ Published by KGS

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 18, 2005) – “If trilobites were alive today, people would keep aquariums filled with them.  Unfortunately, this is fantasy.  Trilobites have been extinct for hundreds of millions of years.  But in nature, reality is often more fascinating than fantasy.  To find a trilobite in the rocks at the side of a highway is a thrill.  To pick one up is to hold millions of years in your hand.  It’s the closest thing to a time machine you will ever have.  It can take you back to a very different world, ages before there were people, or even land animals.  Most trilobites nestle comfortably in your hand.  They curl up snugly in your imagination too.”

These opening lines set the tone for a newly-published book, “Tracking Trilobites: Adventures in Paleontology,” from the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS).  The 70-page illustrated soft cover book is hardly the standard academic treatment of a worn-out scientific subject.  It’s an exuberant exploration of a much-loved fossil, the living (though extinct) animals, and the science that illuminates them.  General readers from older elementary school-age students through adults will enjoy its straightforward text and more than 150 illustrations and photographs.

It was written by Judy Lundquist of Lexington, Ky., who has 20 years experience communicating science to the public through exhibits and programs in museums and national parks, as well as a passion for paleontology.  She has written paleontology articles for Blue Ridge Country and Rock & Gem magazines as well as pieces for Fossil Butte National Monument, the Florida Museum of Natural History, and the Kentucky Paleontological Society.

In “Tracking Trilobites,” Lundquist deals with multiple facets of her subject, from pronunciation (“TRY-low-bite”) to chapters such as “A Close Look at Trilobites” and topics including “Trilobites as Dinner.”  Her book also profiles a number of “trilobite scientists” around the world.  The text is readable, informative and entertaining.  The back cover is a cut-out with instructions for assembling a trilobite model.

The book is $9.43 plus 6 percent Kentucky sales tax and shipping if ordered by telephone or e-mail.  Copies are available at KGS Publication Sales in the Mining and Mineral Resources Building on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington or by calling (859) 257-3896 or (877) 778-7827 toll-free.

Orders may also be e-mailed to KGS-Pub@lsv.uky.edu, but credit card information should not be included in the e-mail.  A publication sales staff member can call for a purchaser’s credit card number.

For more information about this publication, contact the author at jlq.sci@insightbb.com or the Geological Survey.