If you have an interest in petrified wood then this new book is a must have for you. Just published in March, 2006 this is a monster of a book. At seven and a half (7 1/2) pounds, 456 12'' by 11'' pages, this 1 3/4'' thick book has 1600 color photographs.

''The most intriguing, beautiful, and informative book of all time, exploring the subject with images to illustrate each point - with scanning electron microscope images, digital micro images, macro photographs, and medium format photographs. Frank Daniels and geologist Dick Dayvault team up to explore the intricacies of fossil wood by leading the reader on an expedition into the micro world of fossil wood mineralization and cell structures.''

Frank J. Daniels, who also authored the book Petrified Wood: The World of Fossilized Wood, Cones, Ferns, and Cyads and Richard D. Dayvault, a geologist and long time editor of Rocks & Minerals magazine, are the authors of this masterpiece on fossil woods. The photography is by Frank J. Daniels.

Not only does it contain beautiful pictures of fossil woods from locations all over the world it discusses the mineralization process and how to identify softwoods and hardwoods from different eras.

The pictures are both macro, pictures of the fossil wood specimen, and micro, microscopic pictures of the cellular details of the wood. See pictures of the growth rings at the beautifully preserved cell level.

How did the wood turned to stone? What type of stone is it? What are the minerals replacing the wood? What causes the colors? What conditions are required? A chapter of the current understanding presents the answers to these questions. Gone are the old ideas of silicon replacement of the carbon atoms replaced by the templating theory of permineralization.

To me one of the most interesting things is what type of tree was it that became petrified? There is a 124 page chapter full of pictures, charts and text to aid you in identifying the structure and type of wood making up your petrified specimen.