Book Reviews by Mike Fredericks from the pages of the
From Issue #74 October / November 2005
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Thunder-lizards: The Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs (Life of the Past) by Virginia Tidwell (Editor), Kenneth Carpenter (Editor) $59.95 Hardcover: 495 pages Publisher: Indiana University Press ISBN: 0253345421 The amazingly large, quadrupedal herbivores known as sauropods were widespread around the planet from the Jurassic to the end of the Cretaceous. With the longest necks and tails of all of the dinosaurs, some sauropods were 125 feet in length and weighed more than 20 tons. The popular image of these lumbering giants, placidly consuming ferns has been greatly revised in recent years. New discoveries and new theories about behavior and physiology have continued to enrich the study of these remarkable beasts. This book presents 21 new studies of the sauropods. The book is organized into four parts. The first part looks at some sauropods old and new, the second at juvenile and adult specimens and ontogenetic variation within species. Part three concerns morphology and biomechanics, while part four takes up issues of biogeography. All the latest knowledge on the long-necked dinosaurs with tons of photos and line drawings. Technical, but very informative. A must for long-necked dino fans. Among the many contributors are Kenneth Carpenter, Sankar Chatterjee, Rodolfo A. Coria, and Zhong Zheng. Don't forget about Indiana Press' "Oceans of Kansas" book by Mike Everhart (reviewed here last issue). It too is a must for your library.
The Pterosaurs : From Deep Time by David M. Unwin $39.95 Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Pi Press ISBN: 013146308X A fantastic and thorough portrait of the legendary flying dragons of deep time-the pterosaurs-designed for novices, yet founded on up-to-date real science. All written to be easily understood for all by one of the world's leading experts, David Unwin, caretaker of Archaeopteryx and curator at the Museum of Natural History in Berlin. Over 200 million years ago, a group of reptiles took to the Earth's vast and open skies. No longer tethered to the ground, the earliest pterosaurs evolved into a multitude of diverse forms, spread around the globe, and ruled the skies until they went extinct along with the dinosaurs about 65 millions years ago, rarely leaving fossils as a record of their existence. What they did leave was a mystery for paleontologists to solve; an enigma so difficult to crack that it took centuries of missteps before the path to a true understanding of pterosaurs was uncovered. "The Pterosaurs" claims that an understanding of the fundamental nature of these strange creatures is finally possible. In the past decade, new fossil finds and significant advances in technology have led to a breakthrough in our knowledge of pterosaurs. New fossils of the earliest species were discovered in Italy, a remarkably well-preserved and complefe wing was found in Central Asia, and, most extraordinarily, a pterosaur embryo inside an egg was unearthed in China. CAT scanning has let researchers glimpse inside pterosaur skulls and construct three-dimensional images of their bodies from crushed bones, and modern techniques for analyzing relationships between species have revealed surprising insights into the evolution of the group. Drawing on these and other advances, David Unwin, is better able to paint pterosaurs and their world more vividly than has previously been possible. He reconstructs their biology and behavior. Pterosaurs weren't scaly like dinosaurs, but hairy; most were brightly colored and adorned with remarkable head crests; they were excellent fliers with physiologically sophisticated wings; they walked on all fours; and varied in size from eight inches to forty feet in wingspan. He shows how they lived their lives, raised their young, and interacted with the different environments of Mesozoic Earth. Then, building on his examination of their anatomy and lifestyle, and using the powerful technique of cladistic analysis, Unwin unravels the evolutionary history of pterosaurs and establishes their place in life. Packed with 95 color and 30 black and white illustrations-including 10 full-page original color paintings by Todd Marshall that are scientific recreations of different pterosaur species, you'll love this beautiful, thick new book.
Tyrannosaur Canyon (Hardcover) by Douglas Preston $24.95 Publisher: Forge Books ISBN: 0765311046 This new adventure from Douglas Preston, is set in the remote American Southwest canyon country. Dinosaurs and "Black Ops" Cia make an unlikely connection in the new "Tyrannosaur Canyon", an entertaining - if not preposterous - read. Back from Preston's last solo effort ("The Codex") are New Mexico vet Tom Broadbent and Sally Colorado, who has since become Mrs. Broadbent. While horseback riding in New Mexico's high mesa, Broadbent comes across a not-quite-dead treasure hunter, shot in the back in an apparent attempt to hi-jack his mysterious and undisclosed discovery. Fulfilling the dying man's request, Broadbent launches into a quest to identify the murdered man and deliver his notebook to his daughter. Soon Broadbent finds himself in the middle of a plot involving a mix of evil museum curators (one an evil British paleontologist seeking the perfectly preserved remains of a Tyrannosaurus rex; mummified skin and all) and shadowy government agents, ex-cons, Santa Fe cops, and an ex-CIA agent trying to leave his old life behind and become a monk. There are no living dinosaurs in this novel but dinosaurs are discussed in most every chapter. Preston keeps the pace quick, moving the reader through short chapters closing with one cliffhanger after another, making sure to keep the pages turning. I have been a long time fan of the author and while the reader may have to place his "brain on hold" to accept several happenings in the story, I believe the book will please his followers and also entertain new readers. Douglas Preston has worked for the American Museum of Natural History as well as with his frequent collaborator, Lincoln Child. He has authored many bestselling thrillers such as "Relic".
Thunder Lizards!: How To Draw Fantastic Dinosaurs (Paperback) by Steve Miller $19.95 144 pages Publisher: Watson-Guptill Publications ISBN: 0823016633 A grand, new dinosaur drawing book for adults, focusing on anatomy and encompassing the latest scientific research to show serious artists exactly how to draw realistic dinosaurs. Thunder Lizards covers everything from Tyrannosaurus rex, to Allosaurus, to Velociraptors, to the plodding Apatosaurus — more than 50 dinosaurs in all, plus flying and marine reptiles and tips on drawing dynamic dinosaur sequences. I asked the author (a fan of PT) to send us a quote about his new book. "I hope everyone enjoys reading and drawing from Thunder Lizards! It represents over two years of research, writing, and illustrating. I feel incredibly fortunate to have gotten to work with such a wide range of excellent paleoartists. I still can't believe artists like Gregory S. Paul, Bernie Wrightson, and Arthur Adams contributed illustrations to the project. I learned to draw dinosaurs from looking at their art and now I have the opportunity to showcase their talents and that of others like Bryan Baugh, Frank Cho, and Brett Booth. Hopefully Thunder Lizards will energize the imaginations of the next generation of dino-artists. I also got this quick note from Ray Harryhausen who also has a book out from my publisher. "Good luck with your book. Young people for many years have had an interest in prehistoric life, probably because the dinosaurs seem like creatures of the imagination." Steve's new book includes many names you've seen submitting art in PT over the years. The dino art is all quite excellent with leanings toward comic book style dino art (very similar to my own style I suppose) and I think you will really enjoy it. Chapters cover bone structure, muscles, basic dino classification, individual dinosaur types and more. Grab this book!
The Complete World of Human Evolution (Hardcover) by Chris Stringer, Peter Andrews 240 pages Publisher: Thames & Hudson $39.95 ISBN: 0500051321 A very interesting, authoritative, and superbly illustrated account of the rise and eventual domination of our species. While human domination of the earth is now pretty complete it is easy to forget how recently our role in the history of the planet began: the earliest apes evolved around twenty million years ago, yet Homo sapiens has existed for a mere 150,000 years. In the intervening period, many species of early ape and human have lived and died out, leaving behind the fossilized remains that have helped create the picture of our evolution described here. This beautiful, up-to-date account is divided into three accessible sections. "In Search of Our Ancestors" examines the contexts in which fossilized remains have been found and the techniques used to study them. "The Fossil Evidence" traces the evolution of apes and humans, from Proconsul to the australopithecines, and Homo erectus to the Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. The latest fossil finds at major new sites such as Dmanisi in Georgia and Gran Dolina in Spain are also covered, and new advances in genetic studies, including the extraction of DNA from extinct human species, is evaluated. "Interpreting the Evidence" reconstructs and explains the evolution of human behavior, describing the development of tool use, the flourishing of the earliest artists, and the spread of modern humans to all corners of the world. The book is superbly illustrated with hundreds of photographs, diagrams, and specially commissioned reconstruction drawings by artist John Sibbick. 430 illustrations, 175 in color. Chris Stringer is Head of Human Origins at the Natural History Museum, London, and Peter Andrews formerly held the same position. Both have been active researchers in paleoanthropology for over thirty years, and have been privileged to witness firsthand some of the most significant discoveries and breakthroughs in the reconstruction of our evolution. A wonderful book that is a must for your library. Also from Thames & Hudson (and also lavishly illustrated by John Sibbick), When Life Nearly Died is now available in paperback. Previously reviewed in PT, this book covers the early extinction periods on 4Q
earth. And next issue, I'll review "The Human Past" also from Thames & Hudson.
Intelligence in Nature by Jeremy Narby $23.95 Hardcover: 267 pages Publisher: Tarcher ISBN: 1585423998 In his last book, The Cosmic Serpent, anthropologist Narby hypothesized that Amazonian shamans can "gain access in their visions to information related to DNA" comparable to what molecular biologists do. In this new book, he argues that animals and plants exhibit intelligence comparable in many ways to that of humans. He uses such examples of nonhu-man intelligence as bees with abstract reasoning, crows that manufacture standardized tools, pigeons that distinguish between the works of Van Gogh and Chagall about as well as college students do, octopuses that break out of and into their tanks and slime molds that solve mazes. Anthropologist Jeremy Narby has altered how we understand the shamanic cultures and traditions that have undergone a worldwide revival in recent years. Now, Narby travels around the globe-from the Amazon basin to the Far East-to probe what traditional healers and pioneering researchers perceive about the intelligence present in all forms of life. Intelligence in Nature attempts to offer evidence that independent intelligence is not unique to humanity. Indeed, bacteria, plants, animals, and other forms of nonhuman life display an ability for decisions, patterns, and actions. The Japanese possess a word for this universal knowing: chi-sei. For the first time, Narby presents an in-depth anthropological study of this concept in the West. He shows 'proof that he has uncovered intelligent behavior within the natural world but also probes the question of what humanity can learn from nature in its own search for a more sustainable way of life.
Dinosaur Discoveries hardback by Gail Gibbons $16.95 Ages 4-8 33 pages Publisher: Holiday House ISBN: 0823419711 Anew children's book describing theories about the history of dinosaurs, along with many facts about dinosaur discoveries. Gail Gibbons discusses the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods and many of the different types of dinosaurs that lived during each of these times. Each dinosaur is described for aspiring young paleontologists, bringing to life again these magnificent creatures. Gail Gibbons has published almost fifty titles with Holiday House as well as numerous books with other publishing houses.
The Mystery of the Dinosaur in the Forest (Bobbsey Twins) (Paperback) by Laura Lee Hope, Larry Ruppert (Illustrator) Ages 4-8 Paperback: 24 pages Publisher: Little Simon ISBN: 141690705X $3.99The people of Lakeport have seen something big and green with sharp teeth roaming the forest, and the Bobbsey twins are determined to get to the bottom of this mystery. Could a dinosaur really be living in their forest? Everything old seems to be truly new again these days and if you remember the Bobbsey Twins as a child, perhaps you'd like to now introduce your own children to them. Surprisingly, a dinosaur theme is common among this new series of books in several other books in the series.
Dino Wars: The Dinosaurs' Biggest, Baddest Battles (Hardcover) by Jinny Johnson, Dr. Michael Benton Ages 9-12 Hardcover: 166 pages Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers ISBN: 0810957981 $17.95 The strengths and weaknesses of each dinosaur are assessed as they are pitted against their enemies to bring realistic prehistoric struggles to life in this new illustrated book for the young dinosaur lover! Who was the hunted and who was the prey and what secret weapons did each dinosaur possess? Dino Wars answers all this and more! In Dino Wars, readers can find out which dinosaur would have ended up as the victor in a tremendous struggle between Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops, or who the winner might have been in the land and air battle when Pterodactylus swoops down on a herd of grazing Kannemeryeria. In this colorful, illustrated book the biggest and baddest battles of prehistory are graphically brought to life. Each dinosaur is expertly drawn and rated in terms of speed, agility, armor, strength, and special skills-and then pitted against its most ferocious enemy. With thousands of facts on over 150 species and 200 illustrations, kids can indulge in ancient gore and learn the science and history behind their favorite creatures. Jinny Johnson is the author of many books for children. Dr. Michael Benton is the Head of the Dept. of Earth Sciences at Bristol University and Professor of Vertebrate Paleontology. His many books include Walking with Dinosaurs and he was a consultant for the BBC series of the same name.
Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards A Tale of Edward Drinker Cope, Othniel Charles Marsh, and the Gilded Age of Paleontology (Paperback) by Jim Ottaviani, Zander Cannon, Shad Petosky, Kevin Cannon, Mark Schultz $22.95 Paperback: 168 pages Publisher: G.T. Labs ISBN: 0966010663 Get your copy at www.gt-labs.com (the same people who brought you "Charles R Knight-Autobiography of an artist"-reviewed last issue) Promotional copy for this fun new comic book style novel reads, "The Wild West provided the setting for some famous battles, but the gunfight at O.K. Corral doesn't hold a candle to the Bone Wars. Following the Civil War, the (Re-)United States turned its attention to the unexplored territories between the Mississippi and the Pacific. The railroads led the way, and to build them we blasted through mountains and leveled valleys and exposed rock that hadn't seen the light of day for millions of years. This is the story of Edwin Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, two scientists who found and fought for those bones, and the artist Charles R. Knight who almost single-handedly brought dinosaurs back to life for an awestruck public. Guest starring Chief Red Cloud and hundreds of his Indian Braves, the gun-totin' and gamblin' Professor John Bell Hatcher, colossal and stupefying Dinosauria of the New World, and featuring special appearances by The Cardiff Giant, P.T. Barnum, Buffalo Bill Cody, Ulysses S. Grant, Alexander Graham Bell, and a plentiful supporting cast of Rogues and Gallants from the Eastern Scientific Establishment and The Old West, the colorful supporting cast makes for a rich blend of history, adventure, science, and art." That sets the stage for this well done account of the early quest for dinosaur bones in the west. The story is well narrated and the dialogue is great with fantastic artwork from Mark Schultz (Cadillacs & Dinosaurs) plus learning the added facts in the back of the book makes you feel like an expert on the subject.
Pterodactyl is the latest "illustrated novel" from Andrew David Simpson's cool new line of dinosaur comics. With great cover art by J.A. Chirinos and nice line work inside by Aejun Komikers, "Pterodactyl" (never mind that the art and story is actually about a Pteranodon) is another fine work in the Trilobite Comics/Prehistoric Manifesto series. See ad in this issue and check out www.trilobitecomics.com
The only two "dino calendars" I've discovered for 2006 (and both are absolutely beautiful) are The Smithsonian Museum's Pop-Up Dinosaurs 2006 Calendar with art by John Sibbick and Dinosaurs of the Grand Staircase 2006 Calendar with art by Larry Felder on premanent display in the Boston Museum of Science. The good folks at Topps trading cards have released a new 90 card set of trading cards titled "Kong, the 8th Wonder of the World" featuring movie scenes of Peter Jackson's new King Kong movie on each. The "chase cards" in the set will include authentic autographs, movie memorabilia and flocked cards. A promotional card for the set is shown here.
