Take a Tour of Our SVP Virtual Booth with Miranda Martin
Hello! Welcome to Columbia University Press’s virtual booth for this year’s meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. I’m Miranda Martin, the press’s science editor. We probably haven’t had an opportunity to meet in person yet, but I hope that will be possible next year.
We continue to publish books across the sciences, and our paleontology list is one of our strengths. Here, I’ll share what’s new and noteworthy this year.
Prolific author Don Prothero has two new books in 2020. His first, Fantastic Fossils, will teach you how to hunt for fossils and identify what you find. His second, The Story of Evolution in 25 Discoveries, reveals how we came to understand biological evolution in twenty-five exciting vignettes. Be sure not to miss The Story of Life in 25 Fossils and The Story of the Earth in 25 Rocks, both now available in paperback. Collect the whole set!
Next, I’d like to share a book I was really proud to work on this year: The Bearded Lady Project, edited by filmmaker Lexi Jamieson Marsh and paleontologist Ellen Currano. In it, women scientists “challenge the face of science” by donning fake beards at their field sites and in their labs in a pointed commentary on how scientists are expected to look. The personal essays accompanying the photos are revealing, amusing, and moving.
On a personal note, I’m a cat person. So I’m delighted to share On the Prowl by Mark Hallett and John M. Harris, which features stunning paleoart illustrations by Hallett. This book will teach you about the origins of the big cats, their evolution, and how this knowledge can help conserve them today.
Finally, I’d be remiss not to mention Ruth DeFries’s What Would Nature Do? If you’re interested in what eons of biological evolution can teach us about how to confront the complex problems we’re facing today, this is the book for you.
Please look around and enjoy!
