The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, by Steve Brusatte
I think dinosaurs hold the same fascination for me as science fiction - exploring new worlds, trying to piece together bit by bit what's going on - with the added benefit of them actually having existed and walked the same earth I walk every day. It's amazing what we can piece together from rock and old bone, and paleontologist Steve Brusatte of the University of Edinburgh is the perfect person to take us along this journey of dinosaur discovery. His academic focus is on evolution, so naturally the book, though generally a broad overview of the subject, takes that particular angle as well. Brusatte wants to know how dinosaurs first evolved, how they kept evolving, and then what happened to their evolution after that nasty asteroid/comet hit and ruined the party (spoiler alert: there are still dinosaurs, we just call them birds!).
Brusatte's love of the subject is contagious, his enthusiasm leaking out of every page. It'd be almost saccharine if it weren't so interesting, every page unveiling new information about a subject we all generally know only a little bit about. It turns out that knowledge I thought was still disputed, like whether dinosaurs were feathered, for example, is accepted as fact among paleontologists. The rumor mill surrounding dinosaurs is pretty active, so getting the information directly from someone in the know is refreshing.
This book is probably the closest to nonfiction page turner I've yet to read, and not purely because I have an interest in the subject matter. We get to meet a fun cast of paleontologist characters and learn about the different ways people are going about the problem of figuring dinosaurs and their world out, as well as a brief look at dinosaur research in the past (have you heard of the Bone Wars??). If you have any interest in dinosaurs or evolution or ancient Earth history, or just need a fun science book, this is an absolute must read.
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Brusatte's love of the subject is contagious, his enthusiasm leaking out of every page. It'd be almost saccharine if it weren't so interesting, every page unveiling new information about a subject we all generally know only a little bit about. It turns out that knowledge I thought was still disputed, like whether dinosaurs were feathered, for example, is accepted as fact among paleontologists. The rumor mill surrounding dinosaurs is pretty active, so getting the information directly from someone in the know is refreshing.
This book is probably the closest to nonfiction page turner I've yet to read, and not purely because I have an interest in the subject matter. We get to meet a fun cast of paleontologist characters and learn about the different ways people are going about the problem of figuring dinosaurs and their world out, as well as a brief look at dinosaur research in the past (have you heard of the Bone Wars??). If you have any interest in dinosaurs or evolution or ancient Earth history, or just need a fun science book, this is an absolute must read.
Shop local!
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