化石：非常简短的介绍（PDF）

化石是如何支持进化论的？什么是“活化石”？
今天这一代人将留下什么化石？
化石并不总是很容易被理解，人们对它们是什么以及它们的意义有怀疑，有时它们的存在本身就威胁到了对生命起源和地球年龄的普遍看法。基于最新的科学理解，基思·汤姆森将化石置于一个非常人性化的环境中，强调它们对神话、哲学、我们的时间观念和流行文化的影响。这个令人愉快的非常简短的介绍为化石现象提供了一个非常全面的解释。
Fossils: A Very Short Introduction (PDF)
How do fossils support the theory of evolution? What are ‘living fossils’?
What fossils will today’s generation leave behind?
Fossils have not always been easily understood—there have been doubts about what they are and what they mean, and at times their very existence has threatened the prevailing views of the origins of life and the age of the Earth. Building on the latest scientific understanding, Keith Thomson places fossils in a very human context, highlighting their impact on mythology, philosophy, our concept of time, and popular culture. This delightful Very Short Introduction provides a remarkably all-encompassing explanation of fossils as a phenomenon.

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