The Wilson book has, and continues to this day to influence most aspects of carbonate geology. The first three chapters succinctly outlines the time independent principals of carbonate sedimentology, stratigraphy of carbonate deposits and the important aspects of carbonate petrography and diagenesis. The next eight chapters takes the reader through the Phanerozic changes in the carbonate sedimentary record engendered by the evolution of the biotic and abiotic sediment contributors. The scope is world-wide with examples from every eontinet.
Wilson's greatest contribution is his presentation of the historical record of age-specific variations in the carbonate rock record. The global significance of such change is obvious. His age-specific presentation presaged most of the subsequent work on secular variations, whether physical changes (plate configuration) geochemical change (seawater chemestry, skeletal mineralogy) or biological changes (evolution/extinction of carbonate producing organisms and communities).
This book resulted in a significant paradigm change. Analysis of this historical record holds important keys to the development of age-specific carbonate plays and prospects and it has important implications for the proper implimentation of analog information. Its influence and indeed the foundation for many papers such as a recent influential paper by Markello et al. (2008) which used the basic concepts of Wilson to develop an extensive 4-D data base entitled Carbonate Analogues Through Time. This data base is enormously useful for the development of carbonate exploration models globally.
Wilson, J. L. (1975), Carbonate Facies in Geologic History, 471 pp., Springer Verlag, New York.
Source
https://100years.aapg.org/landmark-contributions-to-getting-started-in-carbonates