The Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs

Book Description

Written for non-specialists, this detailed survey of dinosaur origins, diversity, and extinction is designed as a series of successive essays covering important and timely topics in dinosaur paleobiology, such as "warm-bloodedness," birds as living dinosaurs, the new, non-flying feathered dinosaurs, dinosaur functional morphology, and cladistic methods in systematics. Its explicitly phylogenetic approach to the group is that taken by dinosaur specialists. The book is not an edited compilation of the works of many individuals, but a unique, cohesive perspective on Dinosauria. Lavishly illustrated with hundreds of new, specially commissioned illustrations by John Sibbick, world-famous illustrator of dinosaurs, the volume includes multi-page drawings as well as sketches and diagrams. First edition Hb (1996): 0-521-44496-9 David E. Fastovsky is Professor of Geosciences at the University of Rhode Island. Fastovsky, the author of numerous scientific publications dealing with Mesozoic vertebrate faunas and their ancient environments, is also scientific co-Editor of Geology. He has undertaken extensive fieldwork studying dinosaurs and their environments in Montana, North Dakota, Arizona, Mexico, and Mongolia. David B. Weishampel is a professor at the Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution at Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine. Weishampel is best known for discovering, researching, and naming several rare European dinosaur species. During the 1980s Weishampel gained fame for his work with American paleontologist Jack Horner and later named the famous plant-eating, egg-laying Orodromeus, Horner. Now, a decade after his pioneering studies with Horner, Weishampel is most widely known for his current work on the Romanian dinosaur fauna. He is the author and co-author of many titles, including The Dinosaur Papers, 1676-1906 (Norton, 2003); The Dinosauria, (University of California, 1990); and Dinosaurs of the East Coast, (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996).

Customer Reviews:

a specialised text.......2007-06-11

The book is meant as a textbook at the undergraduate or graduate level. For readers who are perhaps inclined to major in paleontology. It is not a layman's book, like a typical "Dinosaur" book positioned towards readers who want to ooh and aah. Such books are indeed very important to attract a general readership to this field. But, so to speak, those books derive from this book (and others like it). Yes, maybe much of this book is "dry", as some others have remarked. So too are most advanced texts in most scientific fields.

However, if you don't have much of a technical background in dinosaur reading, the book can still be interesting reading. Provided you are willing to put in some effort. There is substantial jargon, as in any field. But many descriptions of dinosaur behaviour are still compelling reading and quite understandable.

Plus, this second edition [written in 2005] also includes fresh excavation results in places like China. Which until recent years have had relatively little dinosaur digging. There have been significant finds that have enhanced our knowledge of dinosaurs.

An amazing book on the evolutionary history of dinosaurs........2007-04-03

The number one complaint I have heard about this book is that it is too dry; that it does not focus enough on the dinosaurs, and instead focuses on cladograms, evolution, and just in general, things that aren't dinosaurs. I suggest to those complaining to read the title of the book, "The Evolution and Extinction of Dinosaurs". No, it's not "Everything You Want to Know About Dinosaurs," and no, it's not "Information About Dinosaurs Themselves, And Not Their Evolution" either. This book is about what the title suggests it is about: the evolution and extinction of dinosaurs, and I find that it does an amazing job of explaining just that. If you are looking for a book containing everything you need to know about dinosaurs themselves, I believe one of Weishampel's other works, "The Dinosauria", will suit your needs.

The book, as others have mentioned, is divided into 4 parts:

Part I: Setting the Stage goes over everything you'll need to know to appreciate the rest of the book. The introduction chapter reviews the process of collecting fossils, and introduces the reader to paleontology in general. The next chapter describes how we analyze the fossils and discusses techniques to date fossils such as chronostratigraphy, lithostratigraphy etc. Chapter 3 then moves on to discussing cladograms and how we graphically represent evolutionary trees. Chapters 4 and 5 then discuss the very origins of dinosaurs, starting with the very origins of chordates. Overall, this isn't particularly interesting if what you really want to know about is dinosaurs, but it still provides a good background to paleontology. This section also discusses how dinosaurs came to exist, in terms of evolution, which in my opinion is just as important as what evolutionary processes took place during and after the time of the dinosaurs.

Part II: Ornithischia and Part III: Saurischia discuss the dinosaurs themselves and follow a very intuitive and organized format. Each chapter discusses a different set of dinosaurs and follows the same basic organization: a "Lives and Lifestyles" section, containing what we know of feeding habits, mating, etc, a section on evolution, and a section on the history of the group's discovery. The only chapters that deviate from this are 13- The Origin of Birds, which discusses the ancestry of living birds and the the evolution of feathered dinosaurs, and chapter 14- The Early Evolution of Birds, which, as can be guessed, discusses the evolution of actual birds from dinosaurs. This section contains a lot of information about the dinosaurs themselves, as well as information concerning the evolution of the various types of dinosaurs. Although it does not contain a as much information on the dinosaurs themselves as you'd find from other books, as I have mentioned, that is not the main focus. This book excels, however, at providing detailed information on the evolution and history of discovery of each clade, and these sections offer the most specific evolutionary information in the book, while other sections describe evolution in terms of dinosaurs as a whole and patterns in evolution.

Part IV: Endothermy, Environments, And Extinction takes the focus off of the dinosaurs themselves and discusses three key points. Chapter 15 discusses the evidence of warm-bloodedness in dinosaurs, and is one of the most interesting chapters in the book, in my opinion. Chapter 16 tracks the evolutionary patterns of dinosaurs through time, while chapters 17 and 18 discuss the various mass extinctions affecting the dinosaurs, including the most famous one 65 million years ago. Other than chapter 15, I would consider this the driest section of the book. There are some interesting points, but overall it just doesn't seem to hold my attention.

Overall, the book is very informative and very suitable for use in college courses, or even by the amateur paleontologist. This book doesn't offer an amazing breadth of information regarding the actual characteristics of dinosaurs, but it's really not supposed to. What this book DOES offer is a very in-depth look at the evolutionary tree of dinosaurs: the evolution of dinosaurs as a whole from the primitive archosaurs of pre-mesozoic times, the evolution of the hundreds of species of dinosaurs that came about during the mesozoic, and the evolution of the descendants of the dinosaurs: birds. This is the best book I have read on the subject of the hsitory of dinosaurs, including their rise, their downfall, and their legacy.

Like many others, I used this book for a course. The edition I am reviewing is the second edition, published in 2005. I noticed almost no typos or grammatical errors, so I assume reviewers complaining of such were reviewing the first edition, and these issues were fixed in the reprint.

This books really needs an editor..........2007-02-02

... way too many mispellings and grammatical errors for a college-level book. I was disappointed.

Great book.......2006-03-15

I've read several dinosaur books and I've generally found them to be very good. This one, along with "The Complete Dinosaur", ranks as one of my favorites. The reason I was interested in this book was that I was looking for something that focused on the evolution of dinosaurs and how the various taxa of dinosaurs related to each other. I was also looking for something at an intermediate level. This book exceeded my expectations on all fronts.

The first two chapters mainly covered background material such as geological time scales, isotopic dating and fossilization. The next two introduced some concepts of evolution (not including natural selection, an understanding of this is presumed) and a very high level view of chordates. The discussion of clade diagrams was very through.

After a chapter on the origin of dinosaurs, the book goes on devotes the next several chapters to describing a wide variety of dinosaur taxa and how they are related to each other. The chapters are grouped into parts, each part starts off with some high level discussion of a taxon. Then the individual chapters go on to elaborate the points by describing the taxa within the taxon. The chapters usually start with a description of the taxa's anatomy, distribution and behavior. Typically a fairly coarse grained clade diagram is presented early and more fine grained diagrams are presented as the chapter continues. The characteristics that distinguish one taxa from another are also described. The material isn't just presented as facts, it is justified by evidence from the fossil record. I liked the level of detail the authors typically chose, however someone else may want more or less.

The final two chapters of the theropod part deal with the evolution of birds. I found the discussion of the origin of feathers to be very good. I especially enjoyed the illustrations (I thought the illustrations throughout the book were quite good) showing how they evolved and the structure of feathers used for flying versus those primarily useful for insulation.

The remainder of the book deals with dinosaurs as a whole. I thought the chapter on thermoregulation was very good, much of the information being useful for studying animals in general, not just dinosaurs (the same could be said for several other parts of the book too). Following the thermoregulation chapter there is a chapter on patterns in dinosaur evolution that I thought really tied the previous material in the book together. The treatment of non-avian dinosaur extinction was excellent and balanced.

My one quibble about the content concerns what I consider to be an omission. The authors address the question of "is a cow a fish". They naturally answer "yes". In my opinion it would have been nice if they had then gone on to discuss this in more detail, explaining how this means fish don't form a clade. This would have been a good opportunity to discuss the concept of a grade and perhaps paraclade too. The reason I this discussing fish as a grade is important is that basically everybody has an idea that there is a group of animals they can classify as fish and this group doesn't include cows. I think it would've been nice to help them understand what they mean when they think of fish and why it doesn't conflict with the statement "a cow is a fish".

There are a couple errors, but they are easily recognized. For example on page 77 they refer to synapids as reptiles then on the following two pages they break up amniotes into synapsids and reptiles. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like a contradiction.

As much as I liked this book it's not for everyone (what book would be?). Obviously it's not cheap. If you're not interesting in dinosaur cladistics this book probably is not a great choice. If your main interest is more along the lines of a dinosaur catalog with descriptions of various dinosaur ways of life you can certainly find better books, especially at the price (although I still think this would be a good book). However, if you are interested in dinosaur evolution, along with how dinosaurs made their way in the world, then I think this is a great book.

Clades of the past.......2005-09-21

"Dinosaur!" The word still makes children's faces bright with excitement. "Can we go to the museum, Dad?" - and a golf game is set aside. The authors note how pervasive the dinosaur has become in our society. We live in "dinosaur-crazy times with documentaries, colouring books and films - "we have thrice feasted on Jurassic Park movies". The authors feel this familiarity is all to the good - we learn something of Nature's ways from some of this exposure. They want us to take the next step and learn something of what the professional paleontologist does to bring the wealth of information about dinosaurs to our ken. We also need to understand what conditions prevailed while dinosaurs dominated the planet for 160 million years. That's a real success story and it deserves our attention.

In presenting their story of these impressive animals, the authors start with the general environment. Dating rocks is a fundamental aspect of how dinosaurs developed over time. The explain the science of "chronostratigraphy" using the classical examples of layered rock and moving on to how radioactive isotopes provide dating. They portray what an organism goes through in the process of fossilisation, and how fortunate we are to have anything to assess. Continental drift, which at once complicates and explains what would otherwise appear as anomolies, adds background. Climate is a further tool to explain how the creatures studied lived at the time.

With this background provided, they move on to depict the origin of dinosaurs. It's not a simple picture, as these "terrible lizards" didn't engage in a "takeover" of the planet as a given. It was a long, slow process from small beginnings. The first fossils, named by Darwin's major nemesis, Richard Owen, were an enigma. Years of study and conjecture led to the beginnings of dinosaur classification. The years of "the bone wars" in North America provided much insight into dinosaur development and diversity. As the story unfolds, the authors turn to an organisational method known as "cladistics". Clade diagrams demonstrating relationship between organisms are used to link more recent forms with their ancestral roots. It's an effective method, requiring only visible physical traits to establish the relationships. That, however, remains its greatest limitation and the source of enduring controversy.

Each segment of the book depicts a type - Stegosauria with their massive back plates, Ceratopsia with their massive horns and frilled skulls and Theropoda, "nature red in tooth and claw". The types are described in detail, with an anatomy lesson provided for the type. The evolution of each is traced, with additional material on eating habits, social make-up and how they attacked or defended themselves. Capping each section is an account of how each was first discovered, with biographies of the major figures in paleontology appended. In this second edition, the book updates the information gathered in the past decade. The update shows how the profession of palaeontology has expanded and enriched our knowledge. With lavish illustration by John Sibbick, the presentation is flawless, providing a wealth of new and detailed information.

Palaeontology is not without its disputes, and the authors carefully explain the issues, the scientists holding disparate views and how these are likely to be resolved. Among the enduring issues are whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded and the relationship between them and modern birds. The authors are unequivocal in their stance on these debates, sustaining their case on the available evidence. Their approach gives full voice to the disputants in these controversies, providing complete assessment of the data.

The book is a treasure for anyone interested in these animals that loomed so large in the history of life on our planet. Given the environmental, dietary, body structure and development information provided here, another edition will likely be some time in appearing. If your child mentions the word "dinosaur", have this book handy for answering their questions. And when they ask you to defer your golf match for a trip to the museum to see the reconstructions of these mighty, and not so mighty, animals, donate the time without remorse. You, too, may see them again with a child's eyes. But you will be prepared for what you'll be seeing. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Out of Thin Air: Dinosaurs, Birds, And Earth's Ancient Atmosphere

Average customer rating:

Out of Thin Air: Science on Solid Ground
"Birds fly over the rainbow. Why then, oh why can't I?"
Provocative -- New ideas on paleobiology
Bad English. Good Science?
Compelling!

Out of Thin Air: Dinosaurs, Birds, And Earth's Ancient Atmosphere
Peter Douglas Ward
Manufacturer: Joseph Henry Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0309100615

Book Description

For 65 million years dinosaurs ruled the Earth - until a deadly asteroid forced their extinction. But what accounts for the incredible longevity of dinosaurs? A renowned scientist now provides a startling explanation that is rewriting the history of the Age of Dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs are pretty amazing creatures. Real life monsters that have the power to fascinate us. And they're fiery Hollywood ending only serves to make their story that much more dramatic. But fossil evidence demonstrates that dinosaurs survived several mass extinctions, seemingly unaffected by catastrophes that decimated most other life on Earth. What could explain their uncanny ability to endure through the ages?

Biologist and earth scientist Peter Ward now accounts for the remarkable indestructibility of dinosaurs by connecting their unusual respiration system with their ability to adapt to Earth's changing environment - a system that was ultimately bequeathed to their descendants, birds. By tracing the evolutionary path back through time, slowly but deliberately connecting the dots from birds to dinosaurs, Ward describes the unique form of breathing shared by these two distant relatives - and demonstrates how this simple but remarkable characteristic provides the elusive explanation to a question that has thus far stumped scientists.

Nothing short of revolutionary in its bold presentation of an astonishing theory, this is a story of science at the edge of discovery. Ward is an outstanding guide to the process of scientific detection. Audacious and innovative in his thinking, meticulous and thoroughly detailed in his research, only a scientist of his caliber is capable of telling this surprising story.

Customer Reviews:

Out of Thin Air: Science on Solid Ground.......2007-09-13

Mountain climbers struggling to breathe astride the 29,029 foot (8,848 meter) summit of Mt. Everest routinely see birds gracefully flying above them, engaging in nonchalant aerial acrobatics at altitudes where humans risk hypoxia (oxygen starvation) while standing still.

The avian respiratory system is at least 33% more efficient than any mammalian lung. Birds combine lungs with an extensive system of air sacs - permitting a unidirectional airflow of 'fresh' air with a higher oxygen content. Mammals are saddled with bidirectional lungs that mix 'fresh' and 'stale' (carbon dioxide-laden) air.

Since birds descended from dinosaurs - they are avian dinosaurs - what does this say about dinosaurian respiration, the world in which they evolved, and more specifically the atmospheric chemistry of the planet they came to dominate?

"Out of Thin Air: Dinosaurs, Birds, and Earth's Ancient Atmosphere" by Peter Ward hypothesizes that the history of atmospheric and oceanic oxygen levels throughout geologic time has profoundly impacted the nature of animal life on Earth - everything from morphology (body plans) and physiology to evolutionary history and diversity - was contingent on oxygen levels which have varied radically over time.

Ward, a paleontology professor at the University of Washington, and a NASA staff astrobiologist, is an expert in paleo-atmospheric chemistry and supports his claims with ample and compelling evidence.

Earth's atmosphere presently consists of 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, the final 1% composed of various gases; carbon dioxide being the most notable and problematic. 4.54 billion years ago Earth's atmosphere was a hothouse dominated by carbon dioxide. Oxygen was so scarce that Iron could not rust. Photosynthetic cyanobacteria introduced oxygen into Earth's atmosphere - precipitating an oxygen crisis - the first known mass extinction.

Since the advent of photosynthesis atmospheric oxygen levels hare varied considerably. Only 5 million years ago (MYA) oxygen levels hit 28%. The early Cambrian (544 MYA) averaged 13% and levels peaked during the Carboniferous - Permian transition (299 MYA) at 35%. By the Permian - Triassic boundary (251 MYA) oxygen levels plummeted to less than 12%.

Mass extinctions periodically reshape life on Earth. The best known, the Cretaceous - Tertiary (K-T) boundary, ended the reign of the non-avian dinosaurs approximately 65 MYA when an asteroid roughly 10 kilometers wide gouged the Chicxulub crater near the Yucatan Peninsula, setting the stage for mammals, including Homo sapiens, to become the dominant terrestrial vertebrates.

Another extinction event, the Permian - Triassic (P-Tr), some 251 MYA, is informally known as 'the Great Dying.' Up to 96 percent of all marine species and 70 percent of terrestrial species were erased as global ecosystems crumbled. Life itself nearly died as a greenhouse gas spike caused temperatures to soar 10 - 30 degrees Celsius (18 - 54 degrees Fahrenheit), and oxygen levels plummeted when the oceans became the anoxic (without-oxygen) abode of methanogenic and sulfate-reducing microorganisms - amplifying global warming (methane is 10 times more efficient than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere) and poisoning plant and animal life with deadly hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg gas). The sky literally turned a sickly shade of green, a topic ably covered in Ward's superb Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past, and What They Can Tell Us About Our Future.

Since dinosaurs evolved in the early Triassic - a period of suffocatingly low (to mammals) oxygen levels - any evolutionary innovations that enhanced respiratory efficiency would provide a compelling advantage. Ward contends that dinosaurs eclipsed the dominant Therapsida (mammal-like reptiles) and early mammals by evolving the unidirectional airflow lung and air sack respiratory system utilized by their avian descendents. In the Cynognathus vs. Eoraptor world of the early Triassic the race was to the swift and battle to the strong - our ancestors lost. Therapsids went extinct, early mammals retreated to niches where their respiratory and metabolic systems could cope with Triassic atmospheric conditions, and the reign of the dinosaurs began.

Along the way Ward lucidly engages a wide array of topics to make his case. The impact of continental drift (plate tectonics) and geochemistry (sulfur and carbon cycles) on oxygen levels are explored. Segmented body plans as a respiratory strategy, gills (trilobite, cephalopod, and decapod), and lungs of every variety (from alveolar to septate) are contrasted. The advent of endothermy (warm-blooded metabolism), evidence for same (turbinal bones in mammal-like reptiles and early mammals), and associated reproductive strategies (eggs vs. live birth) also illuminate Ward's insights. Circulatory advances (four-chamber hearts), even the upright posture of dinosaurs (Ward suggests the need to breathe while walking drove this innovation) are deftly dropped into a compelling evidentiary mosaic.

"Out of Thin Air" is more than a trendy title - the science shows how the dinosaurs literally emerged as a result of 'thin' air due to near-hypoxic atmospheric oxygen levels prevailing throughout the P-Tr transition. Dinosaur enthusiasts will be enthralled and mystery lovers will applaud Ward's 'science as the ultimate sleuth' approach to deciphering the history of life on Earth. Ward's Gorgon: The Monsters That Ruled the Planet Before Dinosaurs and How They Died in the Greatest Catastrophe in Earth's History makes an excellent companion volume.

"Birds fly over the rainbow. Why then, oh why can't I?".......2007-07-28

Did periods of low oxygen in Earth's ocean and atmosphere - `thin air' - drive the evolution of animals? Ward meticulously correlates oxygen levels with virtually all animal species' evolutions on land and sea from the Cambrian thru-out the following half-billion years. Altho the timings of the oxygen/carbon-dioxide levels versus ancient animals' ages are both still somewhat speculative, Ward's theory seems to be the most plausible explanation I've read so far.

What caught my attention and attracted me to this book was the realization that birds migrate over the Himalayas (the book's dust-jacket and chapter headings picture Eurasian cranes in flight) while the fittest of our species struggle in the thin air to reach those heights. What enables birds to do that? Ward traces birds' respiratory system's origin to the pre-avian dinosaurs and says that at sea level birds' is a third more efficient than mammals' and at a mile high theirs is two times more efficient. However I was disappointed that he doesn't explain why birds' dinosaur ancestors survived the K-T extinction 65mya which killed off all the other dinosaurs, or how they evolved into today's birds. His focus is more on us mammals.

Some reviewers grumble that Ward's prose is flawed which impeded their reading. Granted it's a little rough but the fact that he's breaking new ground and promptly delivering the results to us, should earn him some latitude. The scope and novelty of his research is impressive, let's not quibble about its form. Perhaps his fault is that he rushed to publish his `first draft' rather than take the time to polish it, but I'm glad he did altho as I said, I think he wraps it up too hastily. (His "Under a Green Sky" was published just 5½ months later - I'll tackle it next.)

Provocative -- New ideas on paleobiology.......2007-03-02

Ward's book is really quite interesting to explain the "logic" of life's development on the earth, starting with the first animals (540 MA). Everything is linked to a timeline showing the rise and fall of oxygen levels over the geologic eras. It would be fatal to the book's premise, I believe, if subsequent research drastically revises this timeline.

As for criticism of Ward's writing style, there were creative forays in his writing that I most enjoyed. On a number of occasions, he takes us on an imaginary trip to visit Earth at a particular era. We are in some sort of conveyance that is boat, submarine, and plane. Like a tour guide, he explains what we are seeing -- bare rocks covered with moss and lichens, the faint haze of hydrogen sulphide in the air, the first primitive pre-phyla of the Burgess shale slowly moving across the sea bottom.

There is some repetition -- this can be criticized, but can also be helpful if one does not whiz through the book rapidly, but goes back every few days for another bite. This is not a thriller, but a rather challenging book of lay science. It is filled with mouthfilling Latinate words. A little extra help by way of some selective repetion is not that objectionable, I think.

One aspect of the book that is radically new is the analysis of the physiology of various prehistoric families of creatures. Their livers, their lungs, their feathers, their bone structure. Only in fairly recent times has this sort of discussion even been possible, and the field is sort of a "terra incognita."

Because the book covers new ground, it will remain to be seen how will the findings hold up in decades to come.

I found it intelligent, lively, and filled with new assertions and new insights. I do NOT agree with one reviewer that the book is too expensive. I got my copy from Amazon for a considerable discount from the nominal price.

Buy it if you think you will enjoy it.

Bad English. Good Science?.......2007-03-01

I found this work a bit of fascinating scientific conjecture, which held my interest even though slogging through its uneven and often ungrammatical prose was quite a chore. Not a piece of "lay science" but rather a work of scientific speculation aimed at a lay audience, this sometimes technical, and oftentimes flawed book will disappoint many at both ends of the spectrum, even though the ideas it presents are worth presenting.

I am not qualified to judge the GEOCARBSULF model upon which the book's major premises are founded. Ward uses this model to model oxygen levels in the past, and posits levels which are not necessarily consistent with certain other modern estimates. Whether we accept his model or not, the book has the virtue of putting forth his theories as explicit and numbered hypotheses. Over the long term this will make the validity of his various speculations more easily judged.

His two main theses are that during periods of low oxygen, speciation rates may have been low, but rates of evolutionary innovation in order to deal with metabolic stress were high, (high enough to be the main driver of innovation in most cases) and that when oxygen rates then later increased, speciation rates (but not necessarily rates of innovation) increased leading to the various explosions such as the Cambrian explosion so well explored in the recent literature.

Ward does admit that such correlations are not always strict. For instance, he admits that the rise of the insects to dominance seems to have paralleled the rise of the flowering plants, and that prior to the origin of the angiosperms, insects were a relatively minor group regardless of oxygen levels.

The book does not lack for flaws. Given that the explicit purpose of its publisher is to make serious works of science "accessible" to the general public, there are dozens of child-friendly black-and-white illustrations of various familiar fossil creatures, from the trilobites to the cynodonts.

Yet there is no illustration at all of the structure of the avian lung, or any actual lung for that matter, even though this is the main subject of the book! Did I miss the detailed anatomical diagrams that would have doubled this books value? The best we get is a very schematic diagram of "a lung" with basically oxygen in here, CO2 out there. There is no diagram of the spider's book lung, the land snail's lung, the mammalian lung, the crocodilian lung, the bird lung, or the various cephalopod and decapod pump gills.

Furthermore, as another reviewer noted, the prose is sloppy and frankly, sometimes atrocious. I literally had to reread several sentences on each page, a distraction that almost drove me to put down the book entirely. Ward's usage is often ungrammatical, he uses words that don't mean what he wishes to say, ("slant" to mean "topic") and he occasionally coins new words such as "paleoaltitude" (used but once) which are essentially meaningless. The book credits an editor. That person's effort seems to have consisted at most of spell-checking, if anything else.

Even at a discount from its full purchase price, this book is too pricy to recommend. Those who are considering purchasing it for the general enthusiast should consider another title. The overly long and often repetitive format is frustrating for anyone with any in-depth knowledge of paleontology, or good prose style, or who can remember what he was reading after a pause of a few hours. The entire book might have been condensed into a third its length, or into a two-part article in a popular magazine without losing anything essential. If you need this book for any academic purpose, consider a lending library.

The book, is probably worth two stars, but is widely over-rated. Ward's arguments are indeed there to be found. He does substitute thought voyages where helpful illustrations are lacking. You can read his theses, and figure out what he wishes to say. But making oneself clear is the author's responsibility, not a labor that should be foisted off on a lay readership, or a professional one for that matter.

Compelling!.......2007-02-18

Though countless books have been written on what killed off the dinosaurs, this book is unique in that it presents a compelling scenario on why they evolved in the first place, and an anatomical reason on why they were so successful. Not only does it discuss the evolution of the dinosaurs, it also discusses how fluctuations in the oxygen and carbon dioxyide levels in the Earth's atmosphere could have been the major factors in causing rapid evolution and mass extinctions thoughout the history of life on Earth. It is a fascinating read, in the same class as "In the Blink of an Eye: How Vision Sparked the Big Bang of Evolution" by Andrew Parker. Unfortunately, the writing is clumsy at times, and the logic is sometimes difficult to follow. And there is so much in the book that is work in progress. I expect the author to come out with a new edition in a few years with more data to support his hypothesis. And when he does, I hope he includes more illustrations of the animals he is talking about!

Night Comes to the Cretaceous : Dinosaur Extinction and the Transformation of Modern Geology

Average customer rating:

Lack of objectivity. An embarassingly one-sided shill.
A very clear account, but of questionable objectivity....
A great description of science from the inside
Night Comes to the Cretaceous
How Scientific Revolutions Actually Happen

Night Comes to the Cretaceous : Dinosaur Extinction and the Transformation of Modern Geology
James Lawrence Powell
Manufacturer: W.H. Freeman & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0716731177

Book Description

In 1980, the radical theory was proposed that a comet or meteor struck the Earth 65 million years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs and 70 percent of all other species. "Night Comes to the Cretaceous" is the first comprehensive and objective account of how this incredible theory has changed the course of science. 35 illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

Lack of objectivity. An embarassingly one-sided shill........2005-03-11

I was hoping for a balanced analysis supporting the dinosaur extinctions via an asteroid doing a number on mother earth. Instead I got a steady dose of denunciations towards anyone who disagreed with the asteroid theory. The tone is palatable at first but after a while repeating the same canard over and over does tend to get tiresome. Around page 170 or so I realized that I was reading an apologist for the asteroid theory.

I was very disappointed that other theories were given short shrift and at times almost mocked. This is a so so book about dinosaur extinctions but I am waiting for a truly meaty and balanced book.

A very clear account, but of questionable objectivity...........2005-02-08

I did't find this book to be a particularly good review of the dinosaurs-vs-meteorite controversy. The narrative is clear and captivating, and accounts of the several open (or closed!) disputes, rooted in disparate fields of Earth sciences, is made accessible to the layreader or those with just a modest background in natural sciences. Nevertheless, Powell holds a one-sided approach right from the beginning, pointlessly crusading against some supposedly general backward attitude in geologists and paleontologists that actually never was there, except for a very few unfortunate cases. Everyone now agrees on evidence for a massive extraterrestrial impact dated around 65 million years ago, but the main issue is presently whether that was the ultimate cause of the mass extinction or other earth-bound factors and feedbacks played a role in driving interactions between physical environment and the biosphere toward a mass extinction. Powell leaves no room for such developments.
In particular, I'd have two specific objections to specific cases presented in the book: 1)On pages 172-174 taxonomic analysis of dinosaur diversity in the highest stratigraphic stages of the Cretaceous in Montana is reported as evidence in favour of a sudden crisis of the original ecosystem. Pete Sheehan and co-workers carried on their studies at the taxonomic rank of families, which resulted numerically stable with time approaching the K-T boundary. Only, John Horner recently reviewed their work at a species level, likely to be statistically and biologically more reliable indicator of biodiversity, and found out a steady decrease of dinosaur types through time. Such reconsideration of Sheehan's research thus reverses evidence against the impact hypothesis! 2) The section "Did impact cause all extinctions?" introduces the final part of the book which has absolutely nothing to do with the K-T event per se, and presents us with Raup's "impact-kill curve" which was originally just an interesting exercise in statistics, but lacking a solid connection with the actual geo-paleontological database of major mass extinctions (let alone minor ones..) and thus oversimplifies the subject. Yet the author all too enthousiastically takes sides with the "impactors" and loses objectivity, even falling in contradiction (Page 192:"Not enough firm evidence is available to corroborate the claim that impact is responsible for any other mass extinction boundary than the K-T event..." Page 196:"..how are we to escape the conclusion that not just in theory, but in practice, impact has caused many extinctions?")
More poignantly however, scientific arguments and debates against the "impact hypothesis" haven't been introduced thoroughly enough but too quickly glossed over, although numerous in the recent scientific literature...
Without deceiving myself of having read a downright objective account, I'm afraid this is the best available book about the (still ongoing...) debate, together with J.D.Archibald's "Dinosaur Extinction and the End of an Era: What the Fossils Say", which is possibly far more objective though...

A great description of science from the inside.......2004-08-07

This is one of the best science books I have ever read, and a great description of how science works from the inside. Scientists aren't impartial godlike figures, they're human beings just like the rest of us.This book details how a geologist, by bringing his father an interesting rock--a polished specimen that included the K-T boundary layer, deposited when the dinosaurs all vanished--started a controversy that revolutionized and redefined the entire field of earth sciences. Personally, I love it when that happens, that's how science is supposed to work, but people who have built their entire careers on the old view of things can have a very difficult time accepting a new paradigm, and will go to ludicrous extremes to defend the old one to their dying breath. The impact theory of extinctions is one of the scariest concepts I have ever come across, but I am a lot happier knowing how things really work. This is an utterly fascinating read, and I can't recommend it strongly enough. To anyone interested in geology, astronomy, dinosaurs, (who isn't interested in dinosaurs??), or the workings of science, I can only say---READ THIS BOOK!!!!

Night Comes to the Cretaceous.......2003-08-01

All in all, James Lawrence Powell did a superb job in writing this book. He is highly opinionated and interprets data in a manner to support his fundamental belief (that an asteroid caused the KT extinctions).
I advise readers to get a balanced view by also reading "The Great Dinosaur Extinction Controvery" by Charles Officer and Jack Page. I felt that Powell covered the topic very thoroughly and provided historical context to help the novice extinctions reader. I felt that the book was very weak in dicussing the paleontological aspects of the extinction. Next revision perhaps.

How Scientific Revolutions Actually Happen.......2003-06-13

One of the great scientific revolutions of our times has been the recognition that the biological evolution of Earth is influenced random impacts by comets and asteroids. When this concept was put forward in 1980, it was radical; today it is the accepted wisdom in paleontology, geology, and evolutionary biology. Jim Powell tells a fascinating story of the evidence for this transformation and of the scientists who have been protgonists in the struggle to understand this evidence and integrate it into our broader undestanding of our planet. This is one of the best books ever written to trace the history of a scientific controversy and of the people involved, warts and all.

The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions

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An Excellent, Well-Written Thesis
Informative and Entertaining
The End of the Dinosaurs
Great Little Book
End of the Dinosaurs.

The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions
Charles Frankel
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0521474477

Book Description

The discovery of the giant Chicxulub impact crater, buried off the coast of Mexico, unveiled the solution to one of Earth's greatest mysteries--what killed the dinosaurs. Scientists uncovered physical evidence to explain the mass extinction that rocked the Earth 65 million years ago. Step-by-step, The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions tells this great scientific detective story. Charles Frankel recounts the birth of the cosmic hypothesis, which holds that the crash of a meteor on the Earth's surface killed two-thirds of life and all the dinosaurs. He first provides a dramatic account of the impact and its aftermath. Frankel then goes on to detail the controversy that preceded the acceptance of the cosmic hypothesis, the search for the crater, its discovery and ongoing exploration, and the effect of the giant impact on the biosphere. In addition, he reviews other mass extinctions in the fossil record and the threat of asteroids and comets to our planet today. More than 70 photographs and diagrams enhance and help illustrate the material. Filled with drama and interesting science, The End of the Dinosaurs will readily appeal to both the general reader fascinated with the subject and the specialist always searching for more clues to this great mystery. Charles Frankel has written a number of articles on the earth sciences in books and magazines. His many books include Volcanoes of the Solar System (Cambridge University Press 1996).

Customer Reviews:

An Excellent, Well-Written Thesis.......2007-07-11

Charles Frankel's book "The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions" is a well-written, thoroughly researched thesis on the theory of a meteor impact that resulted in the mass extinctions of dinosaurs and other species 65 million years ago.

The author requires no prior knowledge of geology, astronomy, archeology, or paleontology. Instead, he carefully outlines all of the accumulated scientific evidence from these fields of science and presents a convincing argument in support of the impact theory as the cause of the mass extinctions documented in the fossil record. He also presents opposing theories and his arguments against them. The book is nicely illustrated with interesting photographs that supplement the salient points of each chapter.

The book is an easy read, especially for a scientific thesis, and is constructed concisely and intuitively, without the repetitiveness often suffered in similar non-fiction works. I enjoyed reading it on vacation in the Caribbean where I was delighted to be able to spot, in some exposed cliffs, the K-T geologic boundary the author describes so well!

I later shared the book with my 14 year old son, who used the book as his primary resource for a school paper on the subject of an important historical event. My son also found the book to be fascinating, lucid, and eminently readable.

I highly recommend this outstanding work of non-fiction.

Informative and Entertaining.......2005-05-23

This book is an entertaining and informative explanation of how scientists posed the theory that an asteriod had caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous, found evidence that supported the theory, searched for the crater, and eventually linked the Chicxulub Crater in the Yucatan Peninsula to the extinctions.

This book is also a wonderful illustration of how the scientific process works, what scientific controversy looks like, and how people from many different scientific disciplines can work together to advance knowledge. The author provides enough background information for the lay reader to understand the basic situation, but not so much that the reader gets bogged down in details. With a publication date of 1999, it is perhaps a bit dated, but it is well worth reading.

The End of the Dinosaurs.......2002-11-23

The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions written by Charles Frankel is an account of the hunt for, finding, and the theory and controversy assoicited with the great mass extinction that rocked the Earth 65 million years ago.

This book encompasses some great detective work and recounts the birth of the cosmic hypothesis that the effects of a giant impact created on the eart's biosphere led to the exticntion of one very successful life forms on earth... dinosauria.

The descriptions of the crater geology is in terms that the layperson can understand and comprehend. This is ment to pique your interest into Earth sciences and there is and index and bibliography for further study if warrented.

What I found to be the greatest asset in reading this book is the detective work involve in finding the impact area on earth that coinsided with the correct time frame to prove that the impact of an extraterresstial source was one of the contributing factors that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.

There are photos within this book that show impacts throughout the earth, but the only one that can be linked to 65 millions years ago is Chicxulub in the Northern edge of the Yucatan in Mexico. It amazes me how the geologists work and came up with this site. Iridium was only one of the clues that the geologists used to track down the date of tthe impact, but closer to the impact site there were other telltale signs.

Around the Gulf of Mexico, unusual outcrops are found at the K-T boundary. K-T stands for Late Cretaceous-Tertiary begining. In El Penon, Mexico, a thick sandstone unit is interpreted to be a catastrophic tsunami deposit, laid down by the impact. Where it is capped by a fine clay displaying a wavy pattern, thought to mark the oscilation of the current as the tsunami wave sloshed back and forth across the continental platform. When you take a cross-section of the clay you can really see the the ripple marks, making testament to the current switching directions.

From Mexico, to Haiti and around the Gulf of Mexico you see this clay layer and sandstone around the K-T boundary denoting an impact, but what really piqued my interest here was the fine of the ejecta known as spherules and tektites. Tektites are spashes of the impact melt that take on aerodynamic shapes as they spin through the Earth's atmosphere.

On a different note... why are comet more dangerous to Earth than asteroid... because of the sublimation of the ices heated by sunlight. The jets of gas act as reactors and constantly modify the comet's trajectory. Thus, making comets less predictable than asteroids.

This book takes the reader on a journey into Earth Science and shows us what can happen... fascinating what asteroids, meteorites, bolides and comets can do to the rich complexity of the biosphere, not only then, but today as well.

Great Little Book.......2002-05-27

This great little book is far more than promised by the title -- although I must admit that I grabbed it because of the title, so I can hardly fault them for picking something dinosaur oriented.

Yes, we get a history of the scientific controversies leading to the widespread acceptance of a meteorite/comet strike as the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs. But there's more: the book reviews the evidence for associations between bolide strikes and all of the major mass extinctions in earth history. In prose that's clear, but not dry, Frankel reveals what we know -- and don't know -- about these events. Good illustrations and intelligent speculation round out a first-rate and quite up-to-date overview of a rapidly developing field.

One subtext of Frankel's work is how scientist adapt (and in some cases don't adapt) to new evidence. For example, the Siberian Tunguska explosion of 1908 is now widely acknowledged to have been a strike from a comet fragment, but only 20 or so years ago you could read about it primarily in UFO magazines and "mysteries of the unexplained" books. Because science lacked an explanation for it, the explosion was largely ignored.

I second the recommendation of "The Eternal Frontier."

End of the Dinosaurs........2000-04-11

So many theories of the KT extinctions have been forwarded by scientist and lay person alike that it is almost refreshing to have it come down to the confrontation between two, or a few, major theories, in this case the "impactist" and "volcanist" theories. Frankel does a fine job of presenting a balanced and fair account of the contenting theories, particularly Courtillot's Deccan Traps volcanism (for which see Evolutionary Catastrophies or my review of it) and their supporting data. He is, however, thoroughly in the impactist camp. He gives an excellent description of the astroid and of how scientists were able to work out its size, the size of its crater, and its subsequent atmospheric and environmental effects. This is probably the best of the three books (T. Rex and the Crater of Doom, Evolutionary Catastrophies, and End of the Dinosaurs) I've recently read on the subject, although all three are worth reading.

The Mistaken Extinction & CD-Rom: Dinosaur Evolution and the Origin of Birds (Academic Version)

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Very entertaining!
Thought provoking!
My Dino Dreams come true!!!
The Mistaken Extinction: Dinosaur Evolution-Origin of Birds
Comprehensive and very entertaining!

The Mistaken Extinction & CD-Rom: Dinosaur Evolution and the Origin of Birds (Academic Version)
Lowell Dingus , and Timothy Rowe
Manufacturer: W. H. Freeman
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0716733846

Amazon.com

Did the dinosaurs disappear, or did they merely take flight? In The Mistaken Extinction, two eminent paleontologists make a case for the continued existence of dinosaurs, at least in the form of some relatively diminutive descendants: birds. To prove their point, Lowell Dingus and Timothy Rowe first review leading theories about the dinosaurs' extinction, pointing to the shortcomings of each. Instead of dying out, Dingus and Rowe write, the dinosaurs merely evolved into another form. For skeptics troubled by such a direct link between their backyard blue jay and the lumbering T. rex, the authors point to problems with the current Linnean system of classifying life. Under a rival system known as cladistics, they contend that it's possible to identify the anatomical characteristics shared by birds and dinosaurs. It's an intriguing hypothesis, and one open to considerable debate. Either way, this beautifully illustrated and admirably comprehensive volume has much to offer birders and dinosaur buffs alike.

Customer Reviews:

Very entertaining!.......2007-02-03

I'm the type of person who rarely reads books for fun. Most of what I read is for my work or on rare occasions I'll grab a book at the airport if I have a long flight. Half the time I'll get bored with it and won't finish it. I'm not even sure how this book ended up on my shelf but I grabbed it about a week ago when I had to go to the hospital and wait for my mother who was having an operation. I literally had a hard time putting it down. Of course it's not fiction but in some ways it reads like fiction in that it tells a story. At times it presents itself as a murder mystery; "What killed the dinosaurs?". Even though the outcome is given away by the title, it's still a fascinating story.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part covers various theories about the cause of the death of the dinosaurs at the end of the cretaceous. The second part in some ways refutes the first part by coming to the conclusion that dinosaurs never really died at all because birds are part of the dinosaur family. I know this is still somewhat of a contentious debate among some, but the book contains some pretty convincing evidence. It's a bit technical at times but you can always get the general idea of what the author is tying to convey.

Even though this book is chiefly about dinosaurs and birds it covers a lot of stuff not directly related to the main topic but interesting never the less. For instance I did not know about the Phylogenetic system of classification before I read it. This book explains it quite well so that someone like me, who is not well versed in biology can easily understand it.

Thought provoking!.......2006-12-07

This is an extremely thorough, yet readable treatment of the subject of the evolution of birds and the non-extinction of dinosaurs. The drawings in particular are excellent illustrations of the features of the lineages. The discussion of the evidence for the different causes of the extinction event that took most of the dinosaurs is clear and thorough. This is a must-read if you are interested in these issues!

My Dino Dreams come true!!!.......2005-11-02

This book rocked so hard it isn't even funny!! I have loved dinosaurs ever since I was a youngster, and still find myself quite fond of those wacky beasts. This book delivers when it comes to dinos. It basically includes two parts: one concerned with the theories of dino extinction(the meteorite-impact hypothesis is given paricular attention-perhaps because one of the authors was involved in research on this hypothesis), the other with dino evolution into birds. Both are written by experts, and more than that they are experts who know how to write in an engaging and easy to understand fashion that the non-expert can understand and appreciate. The prose made the book hard to put down, and the pictures of the biological poetry we call dinosaurs are enough to bring tears to the true dinosaur lovers eyes. So if you like dinosaurs, geology, or I would even say science in general, or are just a curious soul looking for new things to learn I highly recommend this book.

The Mistaken Extinction: Dinosaur Evolution-Origin of Birds.......2004-02-14

The Mistaken Extinction: Dinosaur Evolution and the Origin of Birds written by Lowell Dingus and Timothy Rowe is a dinosaur book that makes a difference. This is a frank account of how we know what we know about the dinosaurs and how the work can and should be approached. There are issues surrounding a dinosaur extinction as though they are elements in a scientific detective story; following a trail of geologic and paleontologic clues toward a solution. This book show the reader the way of intelligent thinking and the conclusions that make sense.

Over the course of this book, it will become clear that the questions being raised today actually have their roots in the debates that raged within the scientific community in the nineteenth century, when Dawin's theory of evolution first burst upon the scene. This book is divided into two parts.

The Search for the Smoking Gun is part 1. The eight chapters include: The Seductive Allure of Dinosaurs, Earlier Extinction Hypotheses, Contrating Volcanic and Impact Hypotheses, Enormoud Eruptions and Disappearing Seaways, THe Fatal Impact, Direct Evidence of Catastrophe, Patterns of extinction and Survival, and Our Hazy View of Time at the K-T Boundary.

These chapters give the reader adequate background information, to take us back to the time of the murderous extinction at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundry of geological time. Here we find a theory of gradual extinction... a theory that most reseachers favor, but could this be true... there are convincing theories.

Part 2: Dead or Alive has ten chapters and it includes: Living Dinosaurs?, Dinosaurs Challenge Evolution, Dinosaurs and the Hierarchy of Life, The Evolutionary Map for Dinosaurs, Death by decree, The Road to Jurassic Park, Crossing the Boundary, Diversification and Decline, The Real Great Dinosaur Extinction, and The Third Wave.

Here we learn why most researchers now believe that birds and other dinosaurs sprung from the same ancient ancestors, all this stems from one of science's theories... evolution. This book is beautifully illustrated and has plenty of morphoroloigal drawings arising for comparitive anatomy.

I found the book to be a wealth of information easily readable and a plethora of detailed compendia on dinosaur facts. This is a book that lays out the extinction of dinosauria with great skill and clairy

Comprehensive and very entertaining!.......2003-10-30

I originally bought this book for a class I'm taking, coincidentally being taught by one of the authors, Timothy Rowe. Not only does this book include facts and myths about the extinction of dinosaurs, but it makes them comprehendable, and very entertaining by including recent myths such as those presented in popular movies. A total must read for dinosaur fanatics!

The Great Dinosaur Extinction Controversy (Helix Books)

Average customer rating:

A thought-provoking book with a few faults
An Excellent, Thought Provoking Book!
The book is an excellent study of how a lie becomes fact.
Unscientific

The Great Dinosaur Extinction Controversy (Helix Books)
Charles Officer , and Jake Page
Manufacturer: Perseus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 020148384X

Customer Reviews:

A thought-provoking book with a few faults.......1999-10-04

The Great Dinosaur Extinction Controversy is a well-written book containing interesting theories with scientific data & charts galore. The book succeeds in driving home the point that the Alvarez theory, as currently accepted, is probably not the answer for the extinction of the dinosaurs. However, Officer and Page don't fully explain a couple of their own theories. For example, much of their data is speciously based on the fossil record, which is scarce and not necessarily indicative of all the species present at any time. Also, they mention the sea level lowering dramatically, which would go hand-in-hand with massive global climate changes as the water collected (possibly) at the polar ice caps (this is not explained). The book does a good job, however, of debunking the pseudoscience and mystique of the Alvarez hypothesis. Although Officer & Page have some gaps in their theory, it is better explained than the "impact idea". Unfortunately, massive volcanism is not as exciting as extraterrestrial doomsday objects hurtling toward earth. This book is definitely food for thought, and it shows how certain theories, when promoted by powerful individuals within the scientific community, can be accepted as truth with very little proof.

An Excellent, Thought Provoking Book!.......1999-06-08

An excellent, well reasoned book with plenty of data to support the volcanic-theory of the KT extinctions. A good example of how a reasoned apporoach to a popular scientific theory is important to read.

The book is an excellent study of how a lie becomes fact........1998-09-28

This is a book debunking, sucessfully in my opinion, the popularly accepted idea that a asteroid hit the earth 65 million years ago. The asteroid impact theory actually consists of two parts,one that a comet hit the earth 65 million years ago and the other that this caused a mass extinction of life on earth. Most professionals knew the second part was nonsense from the get-go, the mass extinction took place over a two million year long period and could not have been caused by an asteroid strike. However there was always the coincidence of the timing of the impact. Officer and Page summarized data that points out that there is no evidence for an impact that cannot be better explained by other sources or indicates that evidence is being contorted (to say the least), i.e. volcanism is shown to have been the source of the iridium layer, the Chicxulub crater the wrong age, etc. The authors may have written a more important book than they intended, in debunking a popular psuedo-scientific theory (there is simply no non-debatable evidence of an impact) they show how nonsense is turned into fact by repetition and politics. Note; the book is written for laymen and not professionals. Then again professionals do not need it.

Unscientific.......1998-08-12

This book is more interesting as an unintended study of human nature than it is as a scientific work.

When initially proposed as an explanation of the Cretaceous Mass Extinction in 1980, the meteor impact theory of Alvarez et al was greeted with widespread "howls of rage and laughter" (to use the words of Gould). Over the ensuing years data after data has accumulated till now it is the reigning paradigm. People don't give up their cherished beliefs, their hard earned intellectual positions easily and without good evidence. Some never do. As Kuhn has pointed out some never do accept a new paradigm and we must wait for a generation to die out.

The case in point here is Officer and Page who are still in a state of denial. Their book, THE GREAT DINOSAUR EXTINCTION CONTROVERSY can be viewed as a last gasp attempt to "just say it isn't so". It is not a fairly written book. They leave out data. (example: the results of core drilling at the Chixulub Crater site). And without the hard data to back their position, they fall back on polemics -- They simply deny that there was a meteor impact at all.

One would be annoyed by this, if one did not realize that Officer has left the realm of science and entered that of religion where beliefs must be accepted on faith.

Book Description

Expanded and updated
This handsome book addresses the questions of what the fossil record tells us about the evolution and extinction of dinosaurs, what their relationship to the rest of the organic world was, and what we can learn from them about our own place in the history of life on our planet. This edition has been updated throughout, with a new final chapter that details exciting recent discoveries such as the feathered dinosaur fossils in China.
ALERT: ONE LINE IS MISSING FROM PAGE XIII OF THIS BOOK. THE COMPLETE LINE SHOULD READ:
"We hope that the following pages will introduce you to some of these questions."
This error will be corrected in future editions of the book.

Customer Reviews:

What do we really know about dinosaurs?.......2001-07-08

After visiting the National Musuem of Natural History, I wondered about many of the claims that the museum made. So I decided to read a book about the "terrible lizards" and found out what I had guessed -- the study of dinosaurs and their fossils is not an exact science and many of the fundamental questions we have about them cannot be answered, including:

How old are they? How fast were they? How big were they? What did they look like? What color were they? What is their relation to birds? How are fossils aged? Do we have any dinosaur DNA?

The authors of this book do a good job at trying to answer many of these questions about dinosaurs, but in the end their explanations merely lay out the science of guesswork. The first part of this book is fifty questions about dinosaurs, and I would recommend this section to anyone interested in the subject. The next two sections are about dinosaurs digs and specific dinosaur species, and is a little bit extensive for the "casual dino reader."

Average customer rating:
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History
Edwin Harris Colbert
Manufacturer: [American Museum of Natural History]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007EKBSU

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Danger, Dinosaurs! : A Musical Comedy About the Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs
Tobin James Mueller
Manufacturer: Center Stage Productions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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ASIN: 156213003X

Book Description

Illustrated Read-along Study Book and Audiocassette. Danger Dinosaurs! is a half hour musical for youth about the evolution and extinction of the dinosaurs, set in an enchanting morality play. It has been performed around the United States and enjoyed an extended run in New York City. This audiotape captures the CenterStage Children's Theatre Troupe at its best as they bring these colorful characters and vivid storyline to life. The subjects covered include dinosaur anatomy, evolution, several extinction theories, continental shift, cooperation, tolerance, sympathy toward others, and the importance of family. Complete Teacher's Kit, Classroom Musical, accompaniment tapes and related study materials are available from the publisher. Children Grades 1-8.

Dinosaur Extinction and the End of an Era

Average customer rating:

A good book with some flaws
What the Fossils Say - And Don't Say . . .
An important review of the fossil record of K-T extinction.

Dinosaur Extinction and the End of an Era
J. David. Archibald
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Night Comes to the Cretaceous: Comets, Craters, Controversy, and the Last Days of the Dinosaurs

ASIN: 0231076258

Book Description

-- Choice

Customer Reviews:

A good book with some flaws.......1999-10-18

If enthusiasm is any measure this book should be a great success. Archibald brings a sense of immediacy to the subject of dinosaur extinction that transcends the academic nature of much of the material he presents. Anyone interested in the extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous will find a wealth of material regarding the fossil evidence here. The book serves as a counterbalance to the popular vision of the dinosaurs vanishing in a meteorite-induced cataclysm, and gives us an entirely different view of the lethal events that these giants might have faced. Unfortunately, the book also has some serious flaws. Despite his zeal for the subject, Archibald is not a good storyteller, and his attention meanders erratically, making for a difficult read. More serious for this reader was a persistent impression that in trying to slay the dragons of meteorite-impact extinction theories Archibald has lost objectivity and bends interpretations to support his ideas even if the evidence is tenuous. He has an irritating habit of building up an argument (usually against some line supporting extinction caused by meteorite impact) and then adding a few lines describing serious contrary evidence at the end, and admitting that maybe his original argument was not correct. The information he offers seems to suggest that extinction of the dinosaurs was gradual, but there are enough examples of bias and typical persuasive sales techniques in the book to prevent me from trusting the author. He is too much a partisan, and it shows in the exaggerated statements that are found throughout the book. His assessment that meteorite impact effects would be equally devastating for all terrestrial forms of life is far to simplistic for serious consideration, and his assertion that the mobile dinosaurs would suffer preferentially from habitat segmentation is unconvincing. I would recommend this book for the information and the ideas it presents and as a good survey of current thought among paleontologists concerning Cretaceous extinctions.

What the Fossils Say - And Don't Say . . ........1999-03-13

The best book on the market concerning the fossil record at the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) Boundary! In this excellently written book, Archibald clearly points out the misconceptions, myths and truths concerning the K/T extinction, and though the book is technical in nature, it is the technical aspects of the fossil record that are typically overlooked by other books and articles promoting the asteroid that "killed the dinosaurs." The fossil record needs to be looked at - critically. And Archibald excels in that. Moreover, he approaches the subject with an open mind. If conclusions can't be made from the evidence, he doesn't make them. That cannot be said of others who support the impact theory without considering what the fossil record actually "says" about the extinction. If one seriously considers Archibald's arguments, one has no choice but to question the validity of the impact as a "selective" killer at the end of the Cretaceous. This book is a must read for those who think the riddle has been solved. It hasn't.

An important review of the fossil record of K-T extinction........1999-02-09

I think that this book is important to any discussion of dinosaur extinction and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, because of the breadth of fossil information the author uses to evaluate the possible causes of the extinctions that mark this era. An important feature is the discussion of the limits of the data available from the fossil record.

While I enjoyed reading this book, I did not find it a particularly easy read. This is probably due to the author trying to present a complex picture while maintaining scientific rigour and without injecting unstated opinion. Robert Bakker or Steven Jay Gould may be easier to read, but they are trying to sell a particular view in each of thier writings. Dr. Archibald states his opinions clearly, but bends over backwards to fairly present alternative theories.

I give it high ratings for content, but the dry, technical style may put off some readers.

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