Book Description

160 drawings 6 x 9 Complete beginners guide to fossil collectingIncludes lesser-studied vertebrate fossilsDetailed illustrations for identification and comparison Earlier life forms are buried all over the earths surfacein oceans, on mountain slopes, in our backyards. Discovering Fossils provides an essential background on where to search for fossils, how to scan for the right textures and shapes, and how to properly extract and protect ones findsa perfect reference for new collectors young and old. Includes practical advice on what to wear and which tools to carry as well as an illustrated identification section of common fossil finds. Frank A. Garcia is responsible for more than 30 previously undiscovered species of prehistoric animals. He lives in Ruskin, Florida. Donald S. Miller is a fossil collector, writer, and proprietor of Millers Fossils in Wilmington, Delaware. Artist, author, and fossil collector Jasper Burns lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Great book about fossils
This book has very accurate illustrations. It is very helpful for people who are interested in fossils, and everything that has to do with collecting them. It is easy to understand, and interesting to read over and over.

Best Fossil Reference Book, Ever
Frank Garcia pierces the veil of paleontology and brings you right down to the surface of your own dig.

This book is the best fossil reference book for the casual collector as well as a great addition to any science or teacher's library where geology and-or paleontology are included.

Written in a very down-to-earth style, the book walks you step-by-step through the basics of why fossils exist, where you will find them, how to properly (and safely) collect them and what to do when you get them home or back to the classroom.

Any family that includes fossil-hunting in their vacation, home-school or travel plans should pack this book along for the added benefit of the wide range of fossils identified within.

Any teacher who brings students to potential fossil or geology sites on field trips should include readings from this book BEFORE heading out as well as keeping it handy while in the field.

There's enough packed into this book that every school library science section should include this volume if budgets restrict purchases.

It's a great gift for the budding fossil collector and an excellent addition to a serious collector's library.

The soft, but protected cover, makes it safe to handle in the field.

Take my advice - purchase two: one for the field and one for the desk or prep table.

Great guide to get you started in fossil collecting
A very good guide book to get started in collecting fossils. Great advice on equipment, locations and methods for collecting. The illustrations of typical specimens are extremely helpful in identifying finds. Mr Garcia writes with a great wit and a genuine love of science. His matter of fact story telling coupled with the excitement of discovery makes it obvious that to him, science is a verb.

Informative and easy to understand, with a sense of wit .
I enjoyed reading this book, as well as others by the same author. It was well written and easy to understand by the beginning fossil collector, yet it was not in any way condensending to the amateur. Frank writes, as he speaks, in a down to earth, witty and conversational form. I especially enjoyed his commentary on the other great amateur and professional paleontologists, in particular, Ben Waller. One could tell, by reading, that Ben help a special place in Frank's heart, it was good to see him write his feelings in this book. I would gladly reccommend this book to all ages. The book contains valuable knowledge for fossil collects of all types, and the well drawn and accurate illustrations provide excellent examples for what one should be searching. ... Read more

Book Description

Tracking Dinosaurs is the first non-technical, popular science book on dinosaur footprints and what they reveal about dinosaurs and their habitats. Billions of dinosaur tracks have been found in recent years and through careful examination of these prehistoric clues, dinosaur trackers have discovered much about how and where dinosaurs lived. This book deals with this landslide of new information that has accumulated in recent decades, demonstrating that fossil footprints are neither rare nor insignificant as previously supposed. A complete guide to dinosaur tracking, the book begins with a discussion of the meaning of tracks, how tracks provide information about dinosaur locomotion, behaviour, ecology and environmental impact. Next, the author describes how dinosaur trackers find and preserve these fossil footprints. This is followed by a detailed description of where to find dinosaur tracks. Popular myths and misconceptions are reviewed and in many cases dispelled, leading to a new perspective on how tracks improve our understanding of dinosaurs. Did brontosaurs really swim? Did dinosaurs travel in structured herds?These questions and many more are discussed in an easy and straightforward style. Dinosaur enthusiasts will be fascinated by what is revealed in these pages, as will geologists and biologists with an interest in paleontology. The accessible writing style and numerous illustrations, including eight pages of colour photogtraphs, make this book appropriate for all people with a general interest in science and natural history. ... Read more

Book Description

Biogeography relates the evolution of the Earth's biota to major episodes in the Earth's history such as climatic changes and plate tectonic events. Furthermore, biogeographic patterns have played a prominent role in the development of the theory of evolution. Thus biogeography has the potential to make important contributions to the field of geobiology.Paleobiogeography emphasizes how analytical techniques from phylogenetic biogeography can be applied to the study of patterns in the fossil record. In doing this, it considers the strengths and weaknesses of paleobiogeographic data, the effects of plate tectonic processes (specifically continental rifting and collision) and changes in relative sea levels in terms of how they influence the evolution and distribution of organisms. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The Mark of Paleobiogeography
Just as the past has left its mark on our present, this book will surely leave its mark on the fields of paleontology and biogeography. With awareness for biodiversity and global change rating a top prioity in current research, study, and politics, it is more important than ever to be aware of the facts. This book addresses those issues from the dawn of life to the current situation. Lieberman's elucidation and writing abilities far out-pace either Gell-Mann or Steinbeck in quality. He is able to synthesize more than one field into a working theory that is understandable and resonable. "Paleobiogeography," is a must read for any amateur or professional interested in the fields of evironmental science, geography, biology, or paleontology. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Still The Best Academic Introduction to Paleontology
"Principles of Paleontology" remains the finest introductory academic text to paleontology, written by two of the foremost paleontologists in the latter half of the 20th Century. It may be of interest too to historians and philosophers of science since the book reflects paleontology's emergence as a quantitative science shaped by recent advances in systematic biology and theoretical ecology. David Raup, now professor emeritus of geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago, was probably the paleontologist most responsible for paleontology's emergence as a quantitative science; his research covered many aspects of theoretical paleontology from analyzing shell morphology to measuring evolutionary rates. Steven M. Stanley, still a professor of geology at Johns Hopkins University, is noted for his research on the functional morphology of mollusk shells, measuring evolutionary rates, and introducing the concept of "Species Selection".

Raup's and Stanley's text covers all aspects of paleontology from preservation and the fossil record to functional morphology, biostratigraphy, paleoecology, and macroevolution. Of special note to historians of science is the considerable attention that they devoted to then recent advances in community and population ecology, such as the MacArthur-Wilson theory of equilibrium island biogeography. Admittedly, much of the book emphasizes invertebrate paleontology, though some attention is devoted too to paleobotany and vertebrate paleontology. ... Read more

Book Description

176 pages with 430 full color photographs of some of the most beautiful fossil specimens in existence.Chapters include Paleobotany, Geology, Mineralogy, and Collecting Petrified Materials.Hundreds of specimens from private collections are for the first time available for public view.

Petrified Wood: The World of Fossilized Wood, Cones, Ferns, and Cycads presents photographs of fossil specimens from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Madagascar, Turkey, and Zimbabwe, and from Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming in the United States.

Photographs include a variety of types and genera of wood, including Araucaria, Woodworthia, Schilderia, Pentoxylon, Hermanophyton, oak, maple, tamarack, and Ginkgo; cones of Araucaria, Pararaucaria, Cycadeoidea, and Sequoia; and the ferns Tietea singularis, Tempskya, and Osmundacaulis. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Blaze of color
As the various reviews point out this book is a blaze of color. Excellently photographed and excellently printed this volume gives a good impression of how beautiful petrified wood can be. This work is perfectly suited as a coffee table book.

As a wood anatomist I cannot help feeling that an even more beautiful book could be produced by shifting the focus to anatomy: when magnified these woods would look even better. I guess a palaeobotanist would agree with me that this would make for, from a scientific point of view, a more usable and valuable book.

Nevertheless this is a magnificent piece of work: there are some quite stunning pictures in here.

Petrified Wood: The World of Fossilized Wood
The best photographic presentation of petrified wood I have every seen. Frank Daniels' love of the subject can be seen in his work as laid out between the covers of this superb book. I totally enjoy showing non palaeontologically minded people this book when they visit. If a person is looking for a photographic presentation of petrified wood, then this would have to be the book. I heartily recommend it. Congratulations Frank on a terrific book. ... Read more

Book Description

The book discusses the ideas and creates a framework for building toward a theory of paleoclimate.Using the rich and mounting array ofobservational evidence of climatic changes from geology, geochemistry, and paleontology, Saltzman offers a dynamical approach to the theory of paleoclimate evolution and an expanded theory of climate.

Saltzman was a distinquished authority on dynamical meteorology. This book provides a comprehensive framework based on dynamical system ideas for a theory of climate and paleoclimatic evolution which is intended for graduate students and research workers in paleoclimatology, earth system studies, and global change research. The book includes an extensive bibliography of geological and physical/dynamical references.

Written by the late Barry Saltzman who was a distinquished authority on dynamical meteorology
This book provides a comprehensive framework based on dynamical system ideas for a theory of climate and paleoclimatic evolution
The book includes extensive bibliography of geological and physical/dynamical references ... Read more

Book Description

An introduction to a new way of looking at history, from a perspective that stretches from the beginning of time to the present day, Maps of Time is world history on an unprecedented scale. Beginning with the Big Bang, David Christian views the interaction of the natural world with the more recent arrivals in flora and fauna, including human beings.
Cosmology, geology, archeology, and population and environmental studies--all figure in David Christian's account, which is an ambitious overview of the emerging field of "Big History." Maps of Time opens with the origins of the universe, the stars and the galaxies, the sun and the solar system, including the earth, and conducts readers through the evolution of the planet before human habitation. It surveys the development of human society from the Paleolithic era through the transition to agriculture, the emergence of cities and states, and the birth of the modern, industrial period right up to intimations of possible futures. Sweeping in scope, finely focused in its minute detail, this riveting account of the known world, from the inception of space-time to the prospects of global warming, lays the groundwork for world history--and Big History--true as never before to its name. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

This book
I took his class last semester, and used the book. Fortunately it coincided with my views of the world, and I was able to finish the book and class with ease.
This book teaches you your spot in the universe. How people, matter, creatures and geography have lived and died, shaping the coils of history to bring you to where you stand today. This is the most scientific and coherent compilation of explanations we have today - Christian is able to see the bits and pieces of life that is around us, and put it together in a book. His theories that are scattered around the book are interesting in themselves.

Important book
This important book is so well written that, despite its broad sweep and intellectual distinction, it flows beautifully. The first chapters provide one of the simplest and clearest descriptions of cosmology I've ever read, perhaps even bettter than Neil deGrasse Tyson's in Natural History. Christian provides a marvellous theoretical framework for understanding history as playing out repetitive patterns, and the sweep of learning, while careful, is extraordinary.

An ambitious and well-written book

David Christian's Map's of Time might bare the standard for non-parochial academic scholarship for years to come.Starting with the "big bang," Christian charts history from the beginning of the universe to the 21st century by drawing parallels between astronomical, biological, and historical phenomena.While the ambitious scope of this project might prove misguidedly off-putting to the narrow academic specialist (which certainly includes most academics), Christian deserves credit for painting a broad picture amidst an academic culture that prizes knowing more about less.
No one, even Christian, could possibly claim expertise in all the fields that this book traverses.Appropriately and refreshingly, rather than obscuring their works in the footnotes, Christian gives credits to the works of experts whose arguments he draws from within the main text.With a work of this scope, such credit is necessary often.Christian does not use much primary source material, which, again, will make professional historians question the work's greater relevance.But as he states in the introduction, while less accepted in academia, synthesizing information is often as important a task as discovering and presenting new information.This approach is more appealing for many intellectually engaged individuals who do not have the time or energy to keep up with the cutting edge of narrowly defined fields.If academics do not embrace such broader interdisciplinary projects then writers with less scholarly discipline will find eager audiences.
Without much prior knowledge of astronomical jargon, I found Christian's explanation of the big bang, quasars, black holes, star formation, the basic laws of gravitation, and many other complex astronomical phenomena both accessible and fascinating.His coverage of the controversies surrounding precise dating of human ancestors is exhaustive and his explanation of human evolution is cogent.As a historian, however, I think he probably dedicates too much time to these two sections (nearly half of the text).
From the agricultural to the industrial revolution, Christian stresses the interaction between different civilizations or "global zones" of influence as the primary dynamic in history, at least in Africa/Asia/Europe.This methodology illuminates the importance of interaction between civilizations and attempts to display the parochialism of studying "western" or "eastern" civilization in isolation.In this vein, this book responds to the increasing importance of globalization and the subsequent push in the academy and secondary schools for "world history."Yet while this might be an effective approach to analyzing dissemination of technology, the transmission of disease, and the integration of economies, it leaves much to be desired in the way of ideology and world views, which undoubtedly shapes history.
With the coming of the industrial revolution and the emergence of the nation state, Christian shifts his focus to Europe and eventually America.This focus is appropriate given that, for better or for worse, western nations have shaped most of history for the past two centuries.Christian's analysis of the environmental degradation that resulted from industrial nation states past and continuing attempts to consume more in the twentieth century is particularly powerful.Through extensive use of statistics, he shows that the current rate of population increases and consumption is unsustainable.This is not new news but putting this within a broad panorama of history goes a long way towards showing us just how profligate our society is.Ultimately, it makes Christian's speculation on possible futures especially relevant.
All told, this book is well-written, imaginative, and cogent.Realize, however, that Christian is not an expert in all these fields and will not leave readers with more specialized knowledge satisfied with his coverage of their areas of specialization.

Maps of Time
Weaknesses of the book
-The cosmology section assumes a very low level of knowledge about the subject, and will not be terribly interesting to those who have read more detailed accounts.
-The part of the book covering human civilizations, meanwhile, assumes a great deal of foreknowledge about the details of history (Christian provides virtually no discussion of the rise or fall of particular empires or political systems), making the text rather less useful to those without a reasonable knowledge of world history in the last 3,000 years.
-Christian's use of scientific terms and statistics can be at times misleading (though this may be unintentional).For example, when comparing rich countries to poor countries, Christian uses data unadjusted for differences in purchasing power, thus greatly amplifying the magnitude of income gaps.And again when emphasizing the rise of the multinational corporation, Christian compares the total market value of large corporations to the annual GDPs of nations, thus increasing the apparent size of the corporations.
-Finally, Christian seems at times unreasonably defensive of Marx and critical of free markets, at one point bemoaning that "Sadly, the Communist revolutions of the twentieth century suggest that overthrowing capitalism may be an extremely destructive project." (478).Why is that sad?Why does "Communism" begin with a capital "C" while "capitalism" does not?I may be nitpicking here, but he goes on like this for some time (incidentally, and perhaps only coincidentally, Christian has his doctorate in Russian history).

Strengths of the book
-The dustjacket is really nice.That may be trivial, but boy does this tome look good on a bookshelf.
-The book really does cover a lot of ground, going from the dawn of the universe through all of human history, rounding off with predictions which extend right through to the death of the last stars and the ultimate victory of thermodynamics' second law.
-Every chapter ends with a recommended reading list which is alone almost worth buying the book for.
-The writing style is at times irresistible; I could scarcely put down the book to relieve myself in pages 335-440 about the rise of the modern period.

Interesting view of world history
Dr. Christian's view is that history should begin with the creation of the Universe and look at over-arching themes.While this is an interesting concept, Dr. Christian fails to provide enough background information to the non-historian to see how the details support the bigger picture.It is a good methodology book for historians looking to see larger concepts, but it assumes a level of historical knowledge lacking in many laymen. ... Read more

Book Description

Voted Best Book on Prehistoric Animals of 1997 by the readers of Prehistoric Times In this beautifully illustrated natural history that links extinct larger feline species with those still in existence, collaborators Alan Turner and Mauricio Antón weave together the evidence of modern feline behavior with that of the fossil record. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Evolution AND anatomy in one book!
One of few books to discuss fossil mammals in relation to their modern-day counterparts, and the only one I've found that discusses functional anatomy. Easy to read for the beginner, with beautiful illustrations. I began knowing almost nothing about the large cats, and ended knowing not only about the family tree, but also the history of the evolution of morphology. I've now read it three times, and am planning on going through it again.

Good reference work
The Big Cats by Alan Turner is a very thorough discussion of the cat family, past and present. It also sports illustrator Mauricio Anton's splendid sketches and paintings of various members of the family. Those of extinct cats bring them to life in a way that the usual drawings of the skull and skeletal remains cannot. There is a thorough discussion of taxonomy in general and of classification of cats in particular. Unfortunately while the drawings are wonderful and the information dense, the book is not light reading. It might be useful to the professional paleontologist or zooarchaeologist looking for a good overview of cat remains or possibly appeal to the dedicated cat lover, but I can't imagine settling in by the fire on a quiet evening with the book. Its most appropriate place might be in a school library for reference use by students doing classroom projects on cats, paleontology, biology, ecology, etc.

a must read
This is an outstanding book, hands down the best book of its kind I've seen. The text is very well organized and readable, both for the layperson and those with science backgrounds. It goes into enough detail to be comprehensive, yet in such a way as to make the material easily understandable and enjoyably read.

The illustrations are what really makes this book stand out above the crowd: they are always well drawn and detailed and pretty to look at, both functional and artistic. It really brings the subject matter to life, sort of like if you were able to examine the museum collection yourself, and then go on a prehistoric safari. If you have any more than a passing interest in cat biology, natural history, or paleontology, this book is a definite must have.

Worth the Money!!
Anyone interested in Big Cats or Prehistoric cats should have this book as a great reference. It also shows readers how the extinct and living cats are classified. Provides information on individual speicies and has tons of pictures (colored and pencil) that are beautifully illustrated. This is definitly worth the time and money....so hurry and buy it now!

Masterpiece!
I strongly recommend this book for any student of mammology or paleontology.The text is very informative and easy reading. The illustrations are so good and elaborate that I suggest art students working in pencil buy this volume. Unlike some books showing only static lateral views, the illustrator has shown these creatures going about their daily lives. Hunting methods are dealt with in great detail.
For book collectors looking for something different, this is it! For biology students and profs, what are you waiting for!?? ... Read more

Amazon.com

What if U.S. history began in 1963, and everything that happened before that year was shrouded in mystery? There would be plenty of events to study, but we wouldn't have a complete picture of the country's past. This is the analogy that paleomicrobiologist J. William Schopf uses to describe the long-missing 85 percent of earth's early fossil record (the puzzle of the missing fossils was known as Darwin's Dilemma). Not until the 1960s did paleobiologists using pickaxes and microscopes find evidence that life began much earlier than previously theorized and that microorganisms were the planet's only inhabitants for most of its existence. And Schopf himself discovered the oldest Precambrian fossils known to science in 1993. Why did it take so long to find these critters?

Though the puzzle of the "missing" early fossil record lived on for more than a hundred years, its solution is now so obvious as to be mundane. The Precambrian world did indeed swarm with living creatures, but until near the close of this vast eon these were microbes and microalgal cells so tiny and fragile that they would never have been unearthed by conventional fossil hunting.

Reviews (13)

An informative, educational and entertaining read.
Two reviewers assert that Schopf says that 10 to the 47th power is roughly half of 10 to the 80th. This may be true of the hardcover edition: the paperback edition says (correctly) that 3 to 100th power is about 5 times 10 to the 47th power, a number "sizable compared to" the number of elementary particles in the Universe (10 to the 80th power). This is ambiguous, but not wrong.

While this book does require some effort, it is definitely readable by a non-specialist. I think it is aimed at beginning undergraduate or even advanced high-school students. The book defines all the terms used: the preliminary knowledge required is very elementary, at the level of a reasonable high-school education in chemistry and biology.

I have found the discussion of the conservativism in the evolution of the metabolic pathways very clear and a good rebuttal to the "Intelligent Design" types: Irreducible Complexity is not so irreducible, after all!

But the most interesting (to me) aspect of the book is the story of the discoveries of the fossils of life forms as old as 3.5 billion years. I also found the stories about the people involved fascinating: They are an entertaining diversion in an otherwise very dense book.

I also think that important (and less so) scientists are good role models for young people. Why should you be interested in the lives of rock stars and not in the lives of working scientists? Clearly, only if you are interested in emulating promiscuous, drug abusing and, often, suicidal morons!

The final chapter, on the Mars "life" fiasco is exactly on target: science by press release is bad science, even if it is often temporarily successful. Sound byte science is one of the worst problems in contemporary society (yes, it is THAT bad): Opposing it is a necessary and courageous act, especially if the opponent is a powerful (and inept) bureaucracy, like NASA.

Surpised about how much new information has been learned.
Wow. I am surprised at how much has been learned about the early phases of life's development since I last formally studied paleontology. One of my favorite areas of study was invertebrate and early life forms. At the time only a modest amount was known about stromatalites and cyanobacteria. The trace fossils of the soft bodied, multicellular, Ediacaran fauna were known but were considered "late" in geologic and biologic terms. The Burgess Shale community, made famous by Gould's "Wonderful Life" in the late '80s, was known, but the organisms were confusing and many have since been restudied and reclassified. Having been a leading actor in the field of microfossils and early bacterial life forms, Schopf puts everything into perspective in his book, making it virtually a history of research into the topic of life's beginnings.

Cradle of Life begins, as such books so often do, with a brief synopsis of Darwin and his theory of evolution, including most critically, its early problems. Thereafter Schopf begins a veritable "who's who" of early paleontology, giving short professional biographies of those who worked in the field as early as the 19th century. He points out where promising leads were suppressed by virtue of the lesser standing of the individual proposing them, and misleading theories given credence because they were proposed by someone of powerful academic credentials. Some of the tales are impressive object lessons in how things can go wrong for human reasons and why science ultimately "gets it right in the end."

One of the more interesting topics the author confronts is how our recent advances in the field of paleontology might help determine whether life exists or has ever existed elsewhere. The author provides an interesting perspective on the Mars meteorite "life forms" that shows how easily it is to be lead astray by high hopes, and how space research scientists can benefit by a familiarity with modern precepts applicable to early life studies on this planet.

The book goes into great detail about the discovery of early life, what forms evidence takes, how it can be mistaken, what information is derived from study of the remains, and what indirect evidence tells us about the early earth. It also discusses how life might have evolved from non-life, how it managed to get started so early, how the atmosphere changed and how that change affected the diversity of earth's biomass. For those who are only casually interested in the topic of fossils, this book might be a little too much information. I love this kind of stuff, but I could certainly see how others might find it incredibly boring. I doubt that those in junior high would find it rewarding, but those in senior high might have enough science background to understand and enjoy it. Certainly for anyone fascinated with science and by how paleontology works, this book will be right up your alley.

FOR THOSE WRITING PAPERS: in paleontology, biochemistry, biology, evolution, and history of science, this book would make an excellent bibliographic entry as well as a good source of topics. One might discuss how science works, how "authority figures" can derail even the best ideas, how science like other human endeavors are affected by culture, expectations, what is "known" already, etc., how progress in technology has allowed us to learn more about the distant past, how the tendency to specialize can delay progress, how a recent trend toward consilience (for which see Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge by E. O. Wilson) might lead to more rapid advances in science. One might compare the work by Nick Lane (see Oxygen: The Molecule that made the World) or by G. Cairns-Smith (Seven Clues to the Origin of Life) to this one to see how their perspectives are the same and how they differ. What do you believe is ultimately supported by the data?

Resolving Darwin's Dilemma
Schopf escorts us into the realm of deep time, introducing us to our earliest microbe ancestors found locked away in ancient rocks. The path is often vague and indistinct, but Schopf is a sure and eloquent guide. Not only has he traversed the route before, but he's helped select and clear the track. This fine book reflects Schop's lighthearted "trailside" manner. He fully enjoys scrutinising the rocks for early lifeforms, and the enjoyment is infectious. It's a pleasure to accompany him on this journey.

Of all the ideas of the origins of life, none proved more exciting than the experiments of Harold Urey and Stanley Miller. Their zapping of elemental chemicals to produce amino acids seemed the final answer to how it all began. Years of criticism of their work and assumptions led to the acclaim fading, but Schopf here attempts to resurrect its primacy. His argument relies on his findings of evidence of wide-ranging shallow seas - Darwin's famous "warm, shallow pond" as the place of life's origins. Schopf argues these seas were present at the same time simple life-forms emerged. In Darwin's time, the techniques for analysing the early rocks were limited. Today, as Schopf demonstrates, looking in the right place with the proper tools brings rich paleontological rewards.

After tracing the histories of several researchers in Pre-Cambrian fossils, Schopf goes on to illustrate the most recent finds and their significance. Some of the finds are beyond the realm of the rocks alone. His description of the process of polymer formation illustrates the beginning of complex chemistry leading from non-life to life. The distinction, as he notes, has become vague as research from many disciplines has been applied to evolutionary studies. As life progressed, it developed such talents as use of light energy, self-perpetuating activities, and the emergence of metabolism. He explains these processes in quite readable prose, but also depicts them with fine illustrations. It's a rare combination of multi-level presentation.

Schopf's tour takes us not only into deep time, but deep space. At the end of the book he examines the issues surrounding the "Martian meteorite" which was suspected to contain remnants of life on that planet. Schopf was the lone dissenter in NASA's presentation of the likely presence of micro-organism fossils. His disappointment in the presentation and the hype surrounding the proposal is keenly expressed. One of his proposals in this book is the universality of life's roots. Lifeforms of some level are almost inevitable on other worlds, given the necessary conditions. He argues the components are available throughout the cosmos, needing only the proper environment to start evolving. It would be exciting to detect evidence of past life on Mars, but meteorite ALH80001 didn't provide it.

Very Interesting
I don't really like biology. There is too much memorizing, and not enough math for my tastes. When I picked up this book, I figured I'd give it a try anyway. I had read Richard Fortey's book _Life_ (a good intro to the history of life) and wanted a little more depth. Boy did I get it.

This is a well written book. The first section is about the history of the quest to find these early fossils and the different theories. I found the stories interesting and fascinating, especially the encounter with Salvador Dali.

I don't want to give away any of the suprises. I found that he explained everything very well. I was able to follow the biological ideas and I have only had one class in college biology. I think if you have not had ANY biology knowledge you probably should get the basics down before reading this book.

But that shouldn't stop you from reading it. If you have any interest in how life started on Earth you have to read this book.

Good basic book on Precambrian life
I disagree with an earlier review that this is not for the lay person. I am a lay person who has read a few books on evolution, and I enjoyed the degree to which this was readable and understandable to the *intelligent* lay person. (say no more.)

Yes, Schopf occasionally writes some whoppers, such as 10 to the 47 being half of 10 to the 80. He also begins with the attitude that we do not actually know for sure that life developed in this path, but here is the evidence that it did. Then he switches to an attitude of: we do know how life developed, and here is the progression. It is an easy jump for an expert in the field to go from "we believe it most probably went this way" to "it did go this way." Galileo got into trouble for that.

Nevertheless, I like how in the middle, he shows that the various energy strategies are minor alterations of one another, showing that the Intelligent Design school critics such as Behe are overblown in their claim that these enzyme pathways are just too irreducibly complex to have evolved by natural selection.

A nice review of the history of this area, by a participant. A nice review of the science behind paleobiology. A nice read. ... Read more

Book Description

From the emergence of the first hominids more than four million years ago to the evolution of modern humans, Walking with Cavemen takes us on a fascinating discovery of our primitive origins and behavior. Far more than just another examination of the fossil evidence, the significance of each hominid's characteristics is translated for the reader into a fascinating conjecture of how they mated, brought up their young, survived attack, and met the other challenges that affected them. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Annoying Stereotypes and Lack of Scholarly Citations
Yet another book of evolutionary conjecture with lots of pictures.

The paleo/archaeologocial info seems sound on the surface, but honestly, WHEN will publishers stop producing books that play to modern stereotypes of gender division and the myth of the universal "nuclear" family?

On the cover, an elderly female marches along with her ergaster compatriots -- albeit bringing up the rear of the party. In several other places in the book the same "hunting party" is depicted...however, in all other images the female is in the middle. I find it distressing that with numerous images of the *same* group, the editors found it necessary that the cover image switch the female from the middle of the group (as she is most often depicted throughout the rest of the volume) to the back.

Of course, my absolute favorite idiocy must be the photo caption from page 146: "Ergaster marked the beginning of forming male-female partnerships in hominids..." I'd love to know exactly what data the editors are using in order to make such a heavy-handed statement.

Conjecture is just that...and the heritage of depicting modern cultural traditions as fact in evolutionary history is really revolting -- not to mention misleading to readers.

If you're looking for a book where factual data takes backseat to computer graphics, this is just your ticket. If, however, you'd like a scholarly work, you'd better go elsewhere.

This book doesn't even have a BASIC bibliography, let alone footnotes or works cited.

Piffle.

An essential addition to the series
Like the first two publications in the series, "Walking with Dinosaurs" and "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts," "Walking with Cavemen" follows the same format and is packed with full color photographs, but focuses exclusively on the evolution of humans. It describes the lives, trials, and even thought processes of the main "characters" in the story of mankind's development, including, but not limited to, Australopithecus afarensis, Homo habilis, Homo ergaster, Homo heidelbergensis, Neanderthals, and modern Homo sapiens.

Unlike its predecessors, which feature a combination of computer-generated images and photographs, "Cavemen" uses no artificially produced images (except for some of the prehistoric animals), relying solely on actual photographs of live human models/actors with elaborate costumes and make-up artistry. The advantage is that this results in more realistic pictures because they are not doctored up, unlike those featured in "Dinosaurs" and "Beasts," some of which (though not all) appeared somewhat fake, because they were.

The downside, however, is that this resulted in a huge disparity between the appearances of the australopithecines of "Cavemen" and their computer-generated counterparts of "Beasts." It also, unfortunately, resulted in pictures which, though quite realistic, are disappointingly inaccurate. Not conforming to the text's descriptions of our ancestors who were long armed and short legged or with no chin, the pictures reveal Neanderthals with chins as prominent as ours and australopithecines with our body proportions.

Nevertheless, "Walking with Cavemen" is superb. The text, though inevitably speculative in places, is highly informative, enlightening, and thought-provoking, and the pictures go a long way toward giving us an idea of what it would actually be like to come face to face with our apelike ancestors. It is an excellent companion to the "Walking with Cavemen" video and a must for fans of "Walking with Dinosaurs" and "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts" as well as anyone with an interest in human evolution. ... Read more

Book Description

The concept of mitochondrial diseases originated in 1962 with the description by Luft and coworkers of a patient with nonthyroidal hypermetabolism due to loose coupling of oxidation and phosphorylation in muscle mitochondria. Over the following quarter of a century, thanks to W. King Engel's "ragged-red fibres" as convenient markers for mitochondrial pathology, numerous papers described clinical, morphological, and biochemical features of "mitochondrial myopathies". In 1988 the discovery of mutations in mitochondrial DNA led to an explosive expansion of research into mitochondrial disorders. Throughout the 1990s the rapid identification of multiple mitochondrial gene defects associated with clinically diverse disorders has left practitioners puzzled about diagnosing such heterogeneous and complex syndromes.Through updated data, this book discusses now what Luft aptly called "mitochondrial medicine". In so doing, it considers the pivotal role of mitochondria in drug sensitivity, their key roles in ageing, apoptosis, and neurodegeneration along with primary mitochondrial diseases due to mutations in the nuclear genome, in the mitochondrial genome, or in the cross-talk between the two genomes. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Outstanding
For anyone interested in trilobites, this is a fantastic book. The photography is superb, many of the specimens pictured are incredibly complete and masterfully prepared. It is amazing how many species of this extinct creature are preserved in New York. Not only are there wonderful photos, but excellent background and stratigraphic information to make the treatise complete. These authors know their subject. Clearly a lot of effort went into this book, and it shows. And the glorious photo on the front cover makes it a book you want to leave out on the coffee table. ... Read more

Book Description

In The Eternal Frontier, world-renowned scientist and historian Tim Flannery tells the unforgettable story of the geological and biological evolution of the North American continent, from the time of the asteroid strike that ended the age of dinosaurs 65 million years ago, to the present day. Flannery describes the development of North America's deciduous forests and other flora, and tracks the immigration and emigration of various animals to and from Europe, Asia, and South America, showing how plant and animal species have either adapted or become extinct. The story takes in the massive changes wrought by the ice ages and the coming of the Indians, and continues right up to the present, covering the deforestation of the Northeast, the decimation of the buffalo, and other facets of the enormous impact of frontier settlement and the development of the industrial might of the United States. Natural history on a monumental scale, The Eternal Frontier contains an enormous wealth of fascinating scientific details, and Flannery's accessible and dynamic writing makes the book a delight to read. This is science writing at its very best -- a riveting page-turner that is simultaneously an accessible and scholarly trove of incredible information that is already being hailed by critics as a classic. "Tim Flannery's account ... will fascinate Americans and non-Americans alike." -- Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel "No one before Flannery ... has been brave enough to tackle the whole pageant of North America." -- David Quammen, the New York Times Book Review "Tim Flannery's book will forever change your perspective on the North American continent ... Exhilarating." -- John Terborgh, The New York Review of Books "Full of engaging and attention-catching information about North America's geology, climate, and paleontology." -- Patricia Nelson Limerick, the Washington Post Book World "Natural history par excellence." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "This gutsy Aussie may have read our landscape and ecological history with greater clarity than any native son." -- David A. Burney, Natural History "A fascinating, current, and insightful look at our familiar history from a larger perspective." -- David Bezanson, Austin-American Statesman "The scope of [Flannery's] story is huge, and his research exhaustive." -- Lauren Gravitz, The Christian Science Monitor ... Read more

Reviews (20)

Fascinating natural history of North America
In The Eternal Frontier, Tim Flannery starts his ecological history of North America with the major asteroid impact near the Yucatan 65 million years ago. He writes of the catastrophe with great verve, and the book becomes quite a page-turner. From there he moves forward through time to the present showing the changes in climate and habitat, and then how the advent of humans in North America impacted its ecology. I grew up in Wisconsin, and I had no idea what a distinct climate and ecology the central portion of North America has compared to the other continents. Because the major mountain ranges (Sierra Nevada, Rockies and Appalachians) run from north to south compared to east to west (the Alps, Urals and Himalayas), North America has a "climatic trumpet" where hot air comes up from the equator in the summer producing near tropical summers even in Wisconsin, and then cold air comes down from the arctic in winter producing a sub-arctic winter. I hadn't realized that Europe and Asia don't have areas with such major swings in temperature as the norm. Flannery also explains how this trumpet will cause global warning or an ice age to be most severe in North America compared to the other continents. Flannery presents and explores in the latter portion of his book many theses on how he thinks North Americans need to take care of their continent so that life as we know it is not jeopardized. Many may think his predictions more dire than need be, but all are worth some careful thought, and many are new ideas (such as the need for large carnivores) that most people would not have thought of. All in all, The Eternal Frontier is a thoughtful, well-written and surprisingly exciting book.

A classic for our times!
Flannery begins his ecological history of North America 65m years ago with the Chicxulub asteroid impact spraying molten rock far into the present Canada and creating a shockwave that flattened trees across the continent. North America lost 80% of its flowering plant species and the dust polluted the atmosphere so most photosynthesis stopped as the planet entered a decade of freezing temperatures.

From here the book describes the major ecological developments through to the present, starting with how the continental drift of Australia from Antarctica and the rise of the Panamanian isthmus impacted on North America's climate. Even when writing of continental drift, Flannery's account is fast-paced. Some will deplore Flannery's speculations, but I found them intensely stimulating. One speculation is not necessarily like another: a well-informed speculation can help to eliminate more far-fetched speculations.

This quote exemplifies his well-informed speculation:

"The lifestyles of the oreodonts have been a mystery for some time. Some possessed eyes on the top of their heads like hippos, which certain researchers have taken to indicate an aquatic life. Oreodont remains, though, are most common in windblown sediments, indicating dry conditions. New and still contentious studies focusing on well-preserved remains of animals that were presumably buried where they lived suggest that some oreodonts may have been burrowers. Some skeletons even have the remains of foetuses, usually, two, three or four, preserved in their mother's belly. Such large animals tend to have so many young only if they live a precarious life, prompting one researcher to suggest that oreodonts used those eyes atop their heads to peek over the rims of their burrows before emerging. But what kind of danger were they keeping an eye out for? The caution of the oreodonts may have been prompted by the pig-like entelodonts...."

Throughout the book Flannery lifts the lid on some of the liveliest scientific controversies. Thus he begins the second half of the book with a clear account of carbon-14 dating and the debate about whether the extinction of most American megafauna was caused by climate change or the arrival of the American Indians. Both debates have political implications for present social policy and Flannery does not, thankfully, smother his account with politically-correct obfuscation.

Chapter 23 describes the destruction of the American Indians - an eye-opener for someone like me who, as a child, played "cowboys and Indians" on the premise that the two sides were evenly matched.

Flannery is fascinated with the notion of "frontier" as was Frederick Jackson Turner who documented the closure of North America's physical frontier; but for Flannery the frontier lives on in US popular culture.

Flannery describes how the myth of the eternally bountiful frontier has fostered a cavalier disregard for environmental laws and other attempts to constrain profligate behaviour. A nation "conceived in liberty" actually had its cultural and political freedom underwritten by rich glacial soils, abundant water and ecological diversity. When these frontier underpinnings no longer apply, US culture will have to adapt to survive.

Flannery leads the reader to ask if the spread of American frontier culture to nations without the bounty of North America has been at huge cost to their environment. Flannery's second theme is his three-phase model of "founder effect", "release" and "adaptation". The founders find an ecological niche and exploit it and in the absence of competition almost all variants make a living of some sort. "Release" occurs when a species is newly arrived in its environment with few competitors and abundant resources; they diversify and flourish in their new conditions. In Flannery's book, the same applies to grizzly bears as to humans on the "eternal frontier"; however, release and adaptation is faster with humans as culture can change more rapidly than biology. When abundance diminishes, species have to adapt to their environment. Because North America is such a rich continent, Europeans have as yet adapted very little - a phase they must enter to produce a diverse and truly North American society. He observes that North Americans still seek frontiers to exploit (irrigating the deserts, even exploiting space - their last frontier) rather than adapting.

This review cannot hope to bring out the richness of Flannery's book. It flows so effortlessly that the reader barely notices the superscript references that follow many paragraphs which show that he has woven together his 365 sources into a seamless tale.

Flannery takes Aldo Leopold's dictum about restoring the environment and shows that there was no complete ecological balance in pre-European or pre-Indian times.

This introduces the question of how the wilderness areas should be managed for the future. Flannery seeks to "revolutionize our rangelands management" by proposing a megafauna to recreate the more balanced ecology of 13,000 years ago: elephant (to replace the mammoth and mastodon), bison, llama, tapir, jaguar, camel and Chacoan peccary - all of which could be harvested for mutual human/megafauna/ecology benefit.

My criticisms of the book are minor and I would not like them to be taken as detracting from this otherwise positive review. The seven-page index is adequate but has not been compiled by someone who understood Flannery's theoretical models. It would have been more helpful, too, if all the animal and plant species mentioned in the text were included in the index. The maps are inadequate: they do not show the majority of the sites mentioned, nor the locations of the Indian tribes referred to. The addition of timelines and illustrations (even silhouettes) of all the animals covered would enrich the book.

Flannery's book has come at an opportune time. Most topically, when the US is considering the implications of the most recent census, when the Bush administration is finding its feet in terms of environmental policy and when creationist escapism is threatening scientific education. More significantly, because the physical and biological frontier, eternal for millions of years, has been closed for all time by the latest mass immigrant and mass exploiter: homo sapiens.

About That Index
I think other reviewers have pretty well covered the book. It's certainly a very interesting read.

I'm kind of an index nut. Some non-fiction authors provide very weak ones. This one is good, but surprisingly misses some important key phrases and words like "founders effect", his interesting Paleogene description on page 101 (paper back) and his references to dawn redwood early on. I certainly appreciated the color photos in the middle of the book, but, whenever I see such material in a paperbook, wonder if there was even more in the hardback version. Four leafs, 8 pages, were provided in the paperback. Anyone know if that's the same as the hardback? I've come across paperbacks that obviously had photos and figures that were excluded from the book. In some cases, that makes a big difference. I think I found two figures in the book. Maybe one. A few more would have been very helpful, partitcularly on extinctions and a few to summarize points.

Wonderful information; offers a far-fetched solution
THE ETERNAL FRONTIER is a fantastic book for giving a cursory ecological history of North America, and it presents the information so fluidly that it's easy to retain even for the layman. A year after reading it, I still think of the shallow ocean that once covered the midwest; of the armadillo returning northward from Mexico to reclaim what had once been its territory. Flannery's assertion that North American ecology has been out of balance since the clovis hunters is well supported also. But I found his suggestion for amending this crisis to be genuinely silly, almost to the point that it hurt the overall book. He believes it may be possible to re-introduce large mammals--namely elephants--to North America, thereby re-establishing the balance that existed during the era of the mastadon. This sort of plan exists in such a far-fetched dream world that it undermines the very sober treatise that has led to it. (I just don't see herds of elephants making it across I-80 in their southward migration.) Flannery handles a great deal of information in this book, and his ability to work with the large scale of time is impressive. But the book does overreach in its attempt to solve a thousand year-old problem in North America.

good but perhaps too broad overview of North America
I rather enjoyed this book, though given its subject matter - discussing the evolutionary and ecological history of North America from the asteroid impact that closed the Mesozoic Era to today's environmental problems - it was perhaps a tad too sweeping. Epic, yes, grandly so, but sometimes I was frustrated that he didn't spend more time on a particular subject or idea that interested me. Arguably this was unavoidable given the 65 million years he sought to cover, but still I wished the book was even longer.

Having said that though, the book was quite wortwhile. Many aspects of the fauna and flora of North America were discussed. Quite a bit of space is devoted to mammalian evolution in the Cenozic, something that is hard to find in popular writings (I know, I have looked; there isn't much on the Cenozoic, particularly the Tertiary Period). Oreodonts, uintatheres, protoceratids, and one of my favorites _Teleoceras_ are all given attention.

Many interesting questions in North American evolution are raised and then answered. How did temperate forests come to be the dominant biome of most of eastern North America? What part did tree squirrels play in North American plant evolution? How did the bison become the vastly numerous species that thundered across the plains when the settlers arrived? Why did rhinos become extinct in North America? How did horses, at one time quite abundant on the continent (one fossil site in Florida he writes yielded no less than 9 co-existing fossil species), become extinct? Indeed, what happened to the Pleistocene megafauna in general, which included not only horses but mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths, camels, lions, cheetahs, and many other animals?

Though the book focuses on North America, by necessity other continents are discussed, logical given the many land bridges that connected North America at various times with Asia, Europe, and South America. I didn't know for instance about the great fauna interchange between North America and the then European island archipelago 55-46 million years ago, how the fauna of North America overwhelmed the archaic fauna of Europe, though some European animals did successfully colonize North America (Flannery writes that mockingbirds first evolved in the Eocene epoch, likely from starling migrants that arrived from Europe). He goes into more detail in the more well known Great Faunal Interchange between North and South America, where large numbers of species colonized new lands, as well the formation of Beringia in the Pleistocene, the great land bridge that brought over not only many Asian animals but also humans.

Though mammals seem to get much of the focus in the book, Flannery does discuss the arrival and/or evolution of birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and plants throughout the time period in focus in the book. I thought his sections on reptiles was particularly intersting, discussing those who survived the asteroid impact in the Gulf of Mexico and those who didn't for instance, as well as notes on the advent of rattlesnakes in North America. Plants are not neglected; his writings on the creosote bush I found unexpected and interesting as well, and as mentioned he spent quite a bit of time discussing the evoltution of arguably North America's most charasteristic biome, the temperate decidious forest.

Flannery by necessity discusses a fair amount of climatology, geology, and plate tectonics in "The Eternal Frontier" as well. Not to an overwhelming degree but enough to allow the reader to get "the big picture" and to see how these events relate to the continued evolution of life in North America.

As might be expected mankind is well covered in the book. Much time is spent on the arrival of the first Native Americas (he refers to them as Indians, acknowledging cultural traditions though noting the inaccuracy) as well as the evolution of the Folsom and Clovis cultures. The impact the native peoples had on North America is the focus for Flannery, largely their probable role in the extinction of the North American megafauna of the Pleistocene but also their impact elsewhere.

Finally, and sadly, there is a considerable section on what Europeans have wrought in North America, from the extinction of the great auk to the slaughter of the buffalo to the ivory-billed woodpecker to vast deforestation...all chronicled.

All in all a good book with a nice section of color plates in the middle. A bit more detail in some sections would have been nice though, but perhaps that is not necessarily a fault. ... Read more

Book Description

This extensively illustrated volume brings together for the first time the results of new research on Arabian continental fossil vertebrates. With information on Arabian paleontology as well as stratigraphic, geological, isotopic, and paleomagnetic findings, the book also discusses the earliest evidence of the genus Homo in the region and the first dispersal of animals from Arabia into Africa and Asia. ... Read more

Book Description

This beautifully produced and illustrated volume is the result of sophisticated scientific research. However, it has been written in clear laymen?s language for nonscientists who have serious interest in paleontology. Author Henry Gee provides naturalists? notes on more than 50 different dinosaur species. His information is supplemented with dramatic, anatomically accurate full-color illustrations of each dinosaur. Material in this book is based on findings of dinosaur remains in North and South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Antarctica, and is divided according to time periods: Triassic, Jurassic, Early- and Mid-Cretaceous, and Late Cretaceous. At-a-glance icons convey key information about each animal, including size, taxonomy, geological period of origin, and geographical location of discovered bones. The book also presents general background information on the 180 million years of the dinosaur-dominated Mesozoic era, including details on Mesozoic plants and animals and the modern story of dinosaur discovery. More than 500vivid illustrations are all in full color. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

The best book on dinosaurs available.
As a fan of Luis Rey - the greatest paleoartist today - I can't say this review is totally unbiased. However, this does happen to be the best book on dinosaurs I've ever seen - and I've seen quite a few, believe me.
A brief summary: authors Henry Gee and Luis V Rey begin with an introduction on dinos, the Mesozoic, and paleontology in general, as well as present a warning that this is a work of fiction. This is just as well, since the dinosaurs depicted in the rest of the book - the field guide - are startlingly realistic looking and are given many external features that usually do not fossilize. Some are genuine new discoveries, such as Psittacosaurus's porcupine quills; others are based on reasoning and educated guesses, as well as a good dash of imagination.
And that's where the book excels. One thing is for sure: dinosaurs looked nothing like out popular image of them. They had feathers, fleshy crests, elaborate nasal passages...all of which would have been unheard-of only a decade or two ago. This is bolstered by the fantastic dinos of the Yixian formation. Dinosaurs, as Gee comes back to at the end of the intro, were "far, far weirder", but this is probably as close to reality as you can get. These agile and colorful animals make the dinos in Jurassic Park and Walking with Dinosaurs look positively naked and monochrome. The selection of dinos is not exhaustive, but is exemplary, featuring such standbys as Triceratops, T-rex, Diplodocus, Stegosaurus and Deinonychus, as well as new dinosaurs such as Masiakasaurus from Madagascar and the spectacular 4-winged Microraptor. Many come as revelations to older generations used to Knight and Zallinger's tail-dragging drab dinosaurs.
The format, as a field guide, is the most original take yet on a very much alive subject. The descriptions on behavior are just educated guesses, as I said, and may appear a little exaggerated
at times, but the animals of today are just as weird, only we take them for granted. And after all, unlike every other dinosaur book, unlike Jurassic Park and Walking with Dinosaurs, this book warns its readers at the beginning.
All in all, this is indeed the newest, most exciting, most original, most indispensable book on dinosaurs in print. I strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest in these magnicent animals, be you 5-year old child or professional paleontologist.

Very different.....
The style of this book is interesting. Along with detailed illustrations, there are many quick style sketches, reminding me of journals carried by early explorers and naturalists. This is possibly the most original dinosaur book ever put together.

Finally, an updated dinosaur book - REALLY!
I own over a dozen books that are supposed to be "up-to date field guides to dinosaurs". But none of them can ever compare to this. Most other books like this are scientifically inaccurate by now. For example, they show velociraptors with scaly skin, like those seen in "Jurassic Park". BBC's "Walking With Dinosaurs" was supposed to be updated, but many dinosaurs looked horribly inaccurate. This book is written by an authoritative author and lavishly illustrated by, in my eyes, the most talented dinosaur artist alive today. It has everything that "Walking With Dinosaurs" didn't had. It is full of awe-inspiring illustrations of dinos in action. The dinosaurs look so frighteningly realistic you almost think you've been taken back to the age of reptiles. But these dinos don't look like reptiles. They occupied the same niches as elephants, giraffes, lions, tigers, and wolves does today. Therefore, the authors have also carefully studied modern wildlife to make these interpretations of the prehistoric creatures. For example, the sail-backed meat-eater Spinosaurus could actually have looked more like a 40-foot pelican than the dragon seen in "Jurassic Park III". And Velociraptor probably looked like a sharp-toothed fish eagle with claws on its wings!The book provides amazing new looks on well-known dinosaur species like Stegosaurus, Diplodocus and T-rex, as well as some of the most recent and bizarre discoveries, such as the funny-looking Masiakasaurus, the smallest dinosaur Microraptor and the dawn tyrant lizard, Eotyrannus. The book begins with a short introduction to dinosaurs, and on page 30, the field guide begins. It is divided by period and continent. Each dinosaur is presented with several color and b/w sketches, a short description, size, and possible behaviour of the dinosaur. Of course, the behaviour is just based on guesses, but it's an interesting read. The images makes this book more than a field guide - it's a true art book. It makes you want to start drawing dinosaurs yourself, or write stories from the mesozoic. I'm currently planning an upcoming dinosaur comic book, and a lot will be based on the look and behaviour of the dinosaurs presented in this book.
Over all, this is by far the best general dinosaur book I've ever read. Packed with facts, and lavishly illustrated, this book is a must have for anyone who's interested in dinosaurs. For the laymen, it is a fantastic journey into a lost world. And all paleontologists, buy it for the artwork!I promise you, it's worth it!

Luis Rey is God
It's hard to resist the urge of writing a review of a book you've never read, isn't it? Although I havn't even seen it in person, this book is gaurenteed to be awesome. Why? Because Luis Rey is on the project. Isn't that enough? The man is a revolutionary in the world of paleo-art, and is simply the best in its class. Now If I wern't completly broke, I'd go buy the thing.

nice descriptive book
very descriptive and informative book a must-have for all dinosaur fans ... Read more

Book Description

A rarely seen look at answering the questions assoc