Trilobite!

Richard Fortey

I had some good luck with this one. Subtitled Eyewitness To Evolution, Trilobite! by Richard Fortey, the title is meant to have the exclamation mark, I picked up from a second hand book store for 50p and it’s one of the best science books I’ve read. Palaeontologist Richard Fortey’s interest in trilobites has become a passion, as is evident upon reading this work when that passion is transfered to the reader through a series of chapters full of interest and all of them engagingly written.

Trilobite!

Thousands of species of this fascinating animal stayed the course for 300 million years before becoming extinct and the tale told by Richard Fortey of this long-lasting lineage is one of wonder and delight. One could almost wish that he might one day be wading on the seashore and be magically transported back to be surrounded by an ocean full of the arthropods.

Trilobite from the Ordovician

The Shakespeare Authorship Page

Shakespeare

Most people who love literature, particularly Shakespeare, will find a great deal of information about the life of the bard contained in The Shakespeare Authorship Page. Actually, it’s a lot more than than just a page, there’s masses of material to be found there and it’s all entertainingly presented by David Kathman and Terry Ross. Unsurprisingly, the focus of the site is the authorship of the works attributed to the chap from Stratford.

Of course, you and I believe that the plays and poems collected in various books as being written by Shakespeare, were in fact written by Shakespeare, but apparently there are many people who have convinced themselves otherwise and The Shakespeare Authorship Page examines the claims made by these people who support an authorship other than the bard’s.

As the site authors state, the people making these claims of alternative authorship are mostly intelligent and sincere, and part of the fascination of this site is in trying to understand the way the human mind sometimes works.

The excellent and authoritative writing and research undertaken by the site authors is quite comprehensive and makes an intriguing starting point for those interested in the mysterious world of Shakespeare authorship.