h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

When I was little, I read books about dinosaurs. These were:

1. Aimed at children;
2. Written in the 1960s/70s;
3. Wrong.

I am now looking to read books about dinosaurs and would like to read books that are:

1. Aimed at adults
2. Written more recently
3. Right.*

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

RF

* At least, contain modern, current understanding of dinosaurs.

I've not read these myself, so I can't say anything for sure, but I'm certainly hearing good things. Ordered by preference, with the best choice on top:



http://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Dinosaurs-Paul-Barrett/dp/0792282248/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255634190&sr=1-1



http://www.amazon.com/Great-Dinosaur-Discoveries-Darren-Naish/dp/0520259750/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255634190&sr=1-3



http://www.amazon.com/Grave-Secrets-Dinosaurs-Tissues-Science/dp/1426203845/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255634705&sr=1-13



http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurus-Complete-Dinosaurs-Steve-Parker/dp/1554074754/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255634190&sr=1-5

And on the other side of the fence, this one sounds quite amusing:



http://www.amazon.com/Great-Dinosaur-Mystery-Solved/dp/0890512825/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255634705&sr=1-21

Thank you.

First one says reading age 9-12.

The second seems to be about the palaeontology/ists as much as about the animals. Interesting (and it’s my reading of A Short History Of Nearly Everything that has currently sparked my interest in this subject) but not quite what I’m looking for.

The third does seem to concentrate on one particular dinosaur’s remains. Not quite what I’m looking for, although clearly of interest.

The fourth book looks more like what I’m after, although it seems to be more of a catalogue than a narrative.

The fifth one? No. Just no.

Thanks for your suggestions, but none of these seems to be what I’m looking for. I recently read Trilobite! by Richard Fortey – this is the kind of book I’m looking for. Written by an expert in the field, erudite, yet understandable to someone with a reasonable understanding of science, without being patronising.

RF

I think Bob Bakker is a dinosaur expert who's written a few books on the subject which I vaguely recall being well reviewed. He championed them being warm-blooded iirc. Maybe search for one of his?

So, my Ladybird book of Dinosaurs would be precisely what you *don't* want, then?

And I have the Althea one in the National Trust series too.

Let me know when you find a good grown-up one.

Mol

Nothing so far...all the ones I can find on Amazon seem to be aimed at children.

RF

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dinosaur-Heresies-Robert-Bakker/dp/0821756087

*Seems* to be the kinda thing you're after..

I suggest contacting the Natural History museum in London. They have an excellent bookshop there.

>> ...aimed at children. <<

An interesting observation.
Perhaps it's because there isn't that much to know about dinosaurs.
Or because their appearance is strange and beautiful.
Or because they are a complete fantasy.
Jus' saying.
~jwf~

Sorry. So many things I wanted to say but every time I tried, that came out.

A poem for you, jwf:

http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/803.html

I came across varying historical and modern interpretations of dinosaur fossils while researching my bachelor thesis, Reddyfreddy, will go see whether any of those mentioned a good reference

Browsed through my own library and found "Collins Guide to Dinosaurs" by David Lambeth. My Swedish edition is a translation of the English edition from 1983. Googling have not revealed any newer edition.

This book is aimed as an introduction for "an interested layperson", and I used it as a next step for the hatchlings when they were bored of the children's books about dinosaurs.

But maybe that's too basic for your needs, RF.

You could do worse than try the aforementioned ‘Dinosaur Heresies’ by Robert Bakker.

He was regarded as a loose cannon and a heretic in palaeontology circles. For its day (1986) the book was regarded as challenging a lot of pre-conceptions. He makes a lot of convincing arguments and it’s an engrossing read that puts flesh on the old bones.

Deke

Speaking of the Natural History Museum - http://tinyurl.com/yjecwj7

This one looks like a DK publication but isn't - http://tinyurl.com/ykw9zbd and a bigger book by the same author - http://tinyurl.com/yhpglqu

We own a copy of this and I think it is a very good book - http://tinyurl.com/ylemthx

These are all links to Amazon UK.

t.

I have a number of books on dinosaurs aimed at adults. Unfortunately they're downstairs, I'm upstairs, it's late and I'm too tired to go down and check on titles. I definitely support the nomination of The Dinosaur Heresies by Robert Bakker. Another name to look out for is David Norman. I have two or three books by him, all aimed at adults. One of them is his Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs. The Natural History Museum book is another good one.

Walking with Dinosaurs by Tim Haines is the 'book of the series'. It's not aimed at kids and is quite well written.

>> A poem for you, jwf: <<



What can I say?
This guy said:
"The idea of the world as a puzzle, as a book, left to us by a
Divine to decode, is an evocative one. There are several lines
in this song that simply give me shivers since they express a spiritually agnostic viewpoint so clearly."

I would only change that to 'agnostically spiritual'. Oh, and
the shivers were more waves of "AHA!"


~jwf~

~*~Or because they are a complete fantasy.~*~


*Holds up reconstructed dinosaur skeleton.*
Look: an actual, physical remnant of a previously living thing. You can actually see it and touch it and feel it, you can verify its existence for your own self. That is a million times more evidence than I've /ever/ seen to support the idea of God.

I thought this thread was about Dinosaur books when I happened along. You lot haven't even got off the first page and god has cropped up already.

Irony or not, it all gets a bit tedious. That's why I almost never post anymore.

Malus

>>>> When I was little, I read books about dinosaurs. These were:

1. Aimed at children;
2. Written in the 1960s/70s;
3. Wrong.




I remember having to learn to spell brontosaurus as a child.

Looking forward to reading some of these suggested books.


HN