Authors: David Norman
ISBN-13: 9781615532773, ISBN-10: 1615532773
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Date Published: January 2006
Edition: Bargain
David Norman is Director, Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge University and the author of several books, including The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dinosaurs and The Big Book of Dinosaurs.
The popularity of dinosaurs seems never ending, as evidenced by the popularity of films such Jurassic Park and documentaries like Walking with Dinosaurs. But how much do these types of entertainment really tell us about recent scientific discoveries and the latest research into the world of the dinosaur?
This is the first book explain how scientists have been able to put together a picture of how dinosaurs looked, what they ate, and how they moved and interacted with each other. Taking a new approach to the subject, David Norman combines different areas of science, such as anatomy, genetics, forensics, and engineering design, to piece together the latest evidence of how animal life evolved on earth. Norman engagingly lays out the history of dinosaur research, from the speculation over ancient myths about dragons, to the latest virtual reality animation sequences and engineering design analysis. He also discusses the role that informed speculation and luck has played in many of the major discoveries.
This book is a fantastic introduction for those just beginning to take an interest in dinosaurs and a must-read for true dinosaur-lovers who want to know not just the latest theories and discoveries, but how scientists achieved them.
1 | Dinosaurs in perspective | 10 |
2 | Dinosaur renaissance | 44 |
3 | New light on Iguanodon | 55 |
4 | Unravelling the genealogy of dinosaurs | 85 |
5 | Dinosaurs and warm blood | 106 |
6 | What if ... birds are dinosaurs? | 122 |
7 | Dinosaur research : observation and deduction | 133 |
8 | The future of research on the past | 160 |