Fossil Nonmarine Ostracoda of the United States: Developments in Palaeontology and Stratigraphy, No.16

Fossil Nonmarine Ostracoda of the United States: Developments in Palaeontology and Stratigraphy, No.16, Frederick M. Swain, 1999, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 401 p. (Hardcover $295.00) ISBN: 0-444-50089-8.

I was looking forward to reading this book. But, as I worked my way through the book, I found myself becoming more and more disappointed.

Let's start with the publisher. Elsevier is well known in the academic world for producing high quality, if expensive, texts of often limited readership appeal. Clearly price is driven by demand, but does Elsevier really expect that individual scientists will rush out to buy a copy of this text with...