There are many different approaches to the study of past climates. This is well illustrated by the special publication of the Geological Society. The volume comprises seventeen papers which were presented at the Second European Palaeontological Congress held in Vienna in 1997. In this volume more than half the papers deal with the Quaternary. Despite the title I see no papers dealing with present climates.

This book addresses the effects of the environment on Saint Petersburg’s cultural heritage. It summarizes the results of long-term, large-scale monitoring of monuments in, and the environment (air, soil, vegetation) of, the historical Saint Petersburg Necropolis. The book offers detailed descriptions of the unique collection of decorative stones in the Necropolis and discusses the deposits that were most likely used to create them. In addition, it characterizes the processes of stone and bronze monuments’ degradation in response to physical, chemical and biogenic influences. Special attention is paid to describing the monitoring methodology and the structure of the monitoring information database. Drawing on the methodologies and cases presented here, the book subsequently puts forward a strategy for the conservation and restoration of these unique monuments. This book approaches practical questions of monuments preservation that will be of interest to museum staff, restorers and experts in various fields (geologists, biologists, chemists, engineers, etc.) whose work involves problems of cultural heritage preservation. The book is interesting for everyone who is not indifferent to the history and preserving of the world culture.

For more than half a century the theory of continental drift was widely derided. Innovators developing the radical theory were labelled as unscientific by well-known science authorities. But then, in the space of a few years, virtually all opposition dramatically collapsed. Continental drift transformed into plate tectonics and became widely acknowledged as one of the most profound scientific revolutions of the twentieth century. Yet a number of science innovators who had been closely involved with creating this new theory of the Earth continued to research an even more radical theory. They saw evidence that the new geological theory was incomplete, arguing that continental drift was caused by the Earth expanding in size. These science innovators give us a unique insight into their experiences. They relate their personal histories of Earth expansion in 14 original essays. The Hidden History of Earth Expansion presents the unique personal histories of British, American, Australian, German, Polish, Romanian, Indian, Albanian and Jamaican science innovators as they strived to produce a modern theory of the Earth. It includes chapters expressly written for the book by some of the most well-known researchers into Earth expansion: Hugh G. Owen, Cliff Ollier, Karl-Heinz Jacob, James Maxlow, Jan Koziar, Stefan Cwojdziñski, Carl Strutinski, Stephen W. Hurrell, John B. Eichler, William C. Erickson, David Noel, Zahid A. Khan, Ram Chandra Tewari, Vedat Shehu and Richard Guy. In addition to furnishing us with their personal histories of Earth expansion and the seemingly overwhelming evidence for its confirmation, the authors’ highlight areas where further research is required.

At the end of the time of the dinosaurs, Transylvania was an island in what was to become southeastern Europe. The island's limited resources affected the size and life histories of its animals, resulting in a local dwarfism. For example, sauropods found on the island measured only six meters long, while their cousins elsewhere grew up to five times larger. Here, David B. Weishampel and Coralia-Maria Jianu present unique evolutionary interpretations of this phenomenon. The authors bring together the latest information on the fauna, flora, geology, and paleogeography of the region, casting these ancient reptiles in their phylogenetic, paleoecological, and evolutionary contexts. What the authors find is that Transylvanian dinosaurs experienced a range of unpredictable successes as they evolved. Woven throughout the detailed history and science of these diminutive dinosaurs is the fascinating story of the man who first discovered them, the mysterious twentieth-century paleontologist Franz Baron Nopcsa, whose name is synonymous with Transylvanian dinosaurs. Hailed by some as the father of paleobiology, it was Nopcsa alone who understood the importance of the dinosaur discoveries in Transylvania; their story cannot be told without recounting his. Transylvanian Dinosaurs strikes an engaging balance between biography and scientific treatise and is sure to capture the imagination of professional paleontologists and amateur dinophiles alike.