Bushels of Fossils
The Influential Life of Lowell Robert Laudon (1905-93)
Teacher, Geologist, Paleontologist, and Mentor

James M. Parks
with F. D. Holland, Jr. and Robert H. Dott, Jr.

 

cover image

October 2006
338 pp.  6 x 9
ISBN (cloth) 0-9748952-3-7
$29.95

To order:

Download this Order Form, complete, and mail to:

Department of Geology & Geophysics
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1215 W. Dayton St.
Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A.

For more information
phone: (608)262-8960
fax: (608)262-0693
email: geodept@wisc.edu
 

Bushels of Fossils tells the life story of legendary geologist Lowell R. Laudon, one of the most unique individuals in twentieth century American geology. A pioneer in fossil crinoid research, he led high-adventure field trips into the mountains of western North America. His contagious love of the out of doors caught the imagination of many, who were flattered to be invited to go camping, hunting, fishing or to collect “bushels of fossils” with him. He was an inspiring model and mentor and his introductory lectures captivated as many as 20,000 students during his unique career.

Parks’ account is based on reminiscences solicited from Laudon’s former students, colleagues and family, who were generous with their narratives, documents, and photos. This wonderfully alive biography of “Doc” Laudon will entertain and fascinate both those who have yet to discover Laudon and those who knew him.

"The professor I remember best was Lowell Laudon, geology. No contest. I went on a geology expedition to the Yukon Territory and had the best time in my whole life. Never a week goes by that I do not talk about that class. I was crazy about Profesor Laudon. In all of the the great deal of education that I have had that was the best course that I ever took."
Greta Van Susteren, UW BA 1976, Fox News Network

"Lowell Laudon's reputation on the campus was legend. He was unquestionably the most inspirational teacher of any I ever encountered. Those of us who were his students, knew him as an inspiring leader and professor who treated his students with the casual air of an equal. He never dominated or lorded over us. It was a laissez faire approach in which he gave us opportunity and guidance when we needed it. I have never seen such consummate instilling of inspiration by example."
Peter K. Link, Petroleum Consultant

"I still think of him as I saw him that day, a bronzed figure with khaki shirt sleeves rolled up, carrying a musette bag and a geology pick. If there is a heaven for geologists, that is where he is now, pigeon toeing along a mountain ledge, headed for an outcrop where the fossils are so perfect and plentiful that he can just rake them in by the bushel basketful."
Hubert H. Hall, Jr., Petroleum Geologist

  James M. Parks, a former student of Lowell Laudon at the University of Kansas and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was a petroleum industry research geologist and Emeritus Professor of Geology at Lehigh University. He is the author of the book A Day at the Bottom of the Sea and of numerous articles on beachface dewatering, bivalves and forams, and Pennsylvanian and Permian carbonate deposits. When Jim died tragically in January 2006 while preparing the manuscript of Bushels of Fossils. F.D. Holland, Jr. of the University of North Dakota, and Robert H. Dott, Jr. of the University of Wisconsin-Madison assumed manuscript revision and supervised the publication of the book.  
Alumni pages | The Department of Geology and Geophysics | The University of Wisconsin-Madison

top of page