Beginning with accounts of pioneering scientists who discovered that fossils were the remains or traces of once-living organisms, this chart also outlines the process of fossil creation, the various types of fossils, and what they can tell us about the past. The process of mineralization is detailed, describing how minerals replace decaying tissue and become fossils. Types of fossils are shown along with a dramatic presentation of the rarity of fossils. The chart covers the principal of original horizontality, the law of superposition, the principle of faunal succession, geological time charts, index fossils, and both relative and absolute dating. There is also an especially helpful section on the relationship of fossils to geology. All of this is accompanied by detailed illustrations and brilliant photographs of representative specimens. Laminated.