I find it surprising that this is the first book by Stephen Jay Gould to have been selected as a "Hal's Pick", since I own and have enjoyed reading many of them. I have had the pleasure of meeting and hearing Professor Gould speak several times and I wish I could write as well as he speaks extemporaneously. "The Lying Stones of Marrakech" is a collection of recent columns from Gould's feature in Natural History; the title essay is about the fake fossils from Morocco that are flooding the market in the United States. As a paleontologist, Gould has a strong interest in fossils, and he takes the opportunity to discuss other important fossil deceptions that have occured in the past. Of particular interest to chemists (at least to this one) was "The Proof of Lavoisier's Plates", describing the contributions of the famous founding father of our science to the early history of geology.