These are some of the books that I have found invaluable in building this web site.It is important for any student to amass a good reading library so that he or she can quickly gather the information or identify any organism that they may be studying.

In trying to understand how life originated and got established on the Earth it is impossible to do so with out an understanding of geological processes the two are inextricably linked together. Finding good geology books that are easy to understand is no longer difficult there are some amazing texts out there which are a pleasure to read. One such book is called Earth portrait of a planet and is written by Stephen Marshak; this book brings life and geology together and shows how each as shaped the others destiny.ISBN 0-393-97423-5.

A very interesting book about photomicrography is by two Australian scientists Fred Rost and Ron Oldfield of the Macquarie university in Sydney. The book is called Photography with a microscope and is superbly written for professionals and amateurs alike. The ISBN NUMBER IS 0-521-77096-3. Well worth the initial lay out.

An excellent book by Linda Graham and Lee Wilcox is called Algae and published by Prentice Hall ISBN 0013-660333-5. The book is designed to be used by under-graduates and graduates studying aquatic ecology but can be used by the amateur freshwater biologist to gain a greater understanding of the subject. The book is supplemented with many high quality black and white prints and five introductory chapters. The book costs £18.99. 640 pages.

Reference books are almost as important as the equipment that you will use, especially for identifying some of the more obscure flora & fauna. A good reference book on the algae is the Fresh water algae their microscopic world explored. This book has some of the best photographs of the algae that you will ever see and is also packed with really good information. The authors are Hilda Canter-Lund and John WG Lund; ISBN 0-948737-25-5 and is published by Bio press. The price of the book is about £60 but it is money well spent.

For the freshwater protozoan addicts then look no further than D.J.Patterson & S.Hedley's Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa. Once again a book packed with useful information about keeping records, photography,classification and hundreds of colour photographs which should help you to narrow that search. ISBN O 7234 1683 4.

Life: An unauthorised Biography. This is a natural history of the earth for the past 4,000,000,000 years. Richard Forty is a palaeontologist and works at the natural history museum in London. This book is an excellent introduction to the past ages of our planet; giving the reader an idea of the stupendous amount of time between the first single celled organisms right up to modern times. (Brilliant book) ISBN 0-00-255560-3.

Microcosms:- Four billion years of microbial evolution. How microbes have helped to shape the planet over the billions of years and providing larger organisms with an atmosphere that could sustain them. Lynn Margulis and Dorian Sagen. ISBN O-520-21064-6 University of California Press.

Cradle of life:- The discovery of Earths oldest fossils. J.William Schopf. ISBN 0-691-00230-4. This is the story of how scientists go about their profession of trying to discover how to prize the secrets of life from the oldest rock formations on Earth.

The symbiotic planet a new look at evolution is part of the science master series and is very easy to read with most of the technical detail explained. ISBN 0-297-81740-X. By Lynn Margulis.

Intimate Strangers:- Unseen life on Earth. Cynthia Needham, Mahlon Hoagland, Kenneth .A McPherson and Bert Dodson.Published by American society for Microbiology ISBN 1-55581-163-9. This book was written for the general reader with an excellent introduction into the world of microbes. This book will give you an idea of how much micro-organisms play a part in controlling the way life shapes up on this incredible world of ours.

Setting up the microscope and learning about the various contrast methods is a huge subject. Here are a few books that would be invaluable to the beginner.
Contrast techniques in light microscopy. ISBN 1-85996-085-5.
Modern photoMICROgraphy. ISBN 1-85996-090-1.
Exploring with the microscope. ISBN 0-8069-0866-1. An ideal beginners book.

These two books are for the younger reader but still contain information that will be of use to the student who is just beginning to discover his or her way around the world of evolution and classification. Both books are from the Bank Street College Of Education and also the American Museum Of Natural History. Published by Lickle publishing inc. Come learn with me, What fossils tell us about the history of life ISBN 1-890674-13-3 and also The Kingdom Of Life: Classification. ISBN 1-890674-17-6.