A wonderful project, and a clear and well-written book. Do not expect to finish quickly -- we spent many hours over many months cleaning, sorting, cutting, and assembling a beautiful 'apatosaurus.' Kids of all ages (mine are 3 and 5) can get involved, from enthusiastically finishing their chicken dinners to cleaning and sorting and assembling the new family pet.

I should note that if you have a Dremel or similar moto-tool, you'll find a lot of the cutting and sanding easier (and you'll have less bone-boiling).

I am a 21 year old biology major and this is one of the best science books I've ever purchased. I have always loved books that involved cut-and-paste but this one is the best. You end up with an actual model of a dinosaur as well as extensive knowledge of skeletal anatomy, dinosaur and bird facts, and how to roast a chicken!

McGowan's idiot-prof instructions proved themselves when me and some friends built this dinosaur in 7th grade. Although I am an avid model builder this was the first time I hade built a model made of things other than plastic. Surprizingly the chicken bones were easy to work with. We finished the model in about two months(working only one day a week). So if your looking to build an unusual model but this book!

Although not a polished historian or biographer, McGowan (a Canadian paleobiologist) has produced an enjoyable and breezy read on the foundations of modern paleontology and evolution. Imagine the excitement surrounding the first dinosaur finds! It's here. McGowan's emphasis is on the diverse personalities of the "fossilists" (a term I'd never encountered before). The timeline in the text is a little disorganized at times, but then McGowan is juggling quite a number of people across half the 19th century, and what an entertaining bunch they are: Catastrophe Cuvier, Diluvium Buckland, Uniformity Lyell, Iguana Mantell, Faker Hawkins, Deferential Darwin, and first of all Mary Anning. Perhaps their fascinating diversity is due in part to the diversity of education (or lack) described here, in a day before universal education on the Prussian industrial model. McGowan also supplies sufficient description of the fossils themselves to recognize the basic issues in the flaming debates that arose.

Contemporary illustrations are many, varied and useful, many showing the actual original finds, as well as the fossilists. But how can a book on a geological science fail to have a single map? While I'm sure villages like Walton or Street are perfectly familiar to English folk, a map of towns and fossil locales would really help the rest of us. And there's no chronogical chart of the main geological strata mentioned (or see Winchester's The Map That Changed the World). And maybe a gallery of modern versions of the dinosaurs discussed here (no T-Rex, incidentally) would be in order. A selection of the "satirical cartoons" of De la Beche, only mentioned by McGowan, would be intriguing. But I'm just picking nits with a charming book. McGowan adds a personal final chapter, recounting the thrills of responsible modern fossiling in the mecca of Lyme Regis. Source notes, credits, and an index are included.

In the first half of the nineteenth century, the British intelligentsia were having to come to terms with the fossilized bones being dug up by quarrymen or exposed by the waves against the rocky cliffs. The strange creatures thus revealed posed enormous questions about creation, and the theologians quickly got into the debate. However, as the fossilists produced more specimens, and the geologists got acquainted with the enormous span of time required in their discipline, and the paleontologists were able to classify more of the ancient beasts, the pondering on creation came under the light of science rather than theology. Thus when the Theory of Evolution was announced in 1858, Britain was not completely unprepared for its revelations. The foot soldiers of this transformation were the fossilists themselves, and to tell their story, Christopher McGowan, senior curator of paleobiology at the Royal Ontario Museum, has written _The Dragon Seekers: How an Extraordinary Circle of Fossilists Discovered the Dinosaurs and Paved the Way for Darwin_ (Perseus Publishing). It is a fine description of the science versus religion battles of the time, and of how paleontology got started.

There is an eccentric cast of characters within these pages. Thomas Hawkins was a master at getting monstrous specimens displayed, but was really too good at it; he helped his displays with faked bones, a deception whose controversy was elevated to the House of Commons. Gideon Mantell had a hectic medical practice, but it was fossilizing that he loved, and because people thought he was too much of a fossilizer while not enough of a doctor, they stayed away from his practice. He also alienated his wife and family. Although he discovered and named the _Iguanodon_, fossils ruined him. But the most fascinating figure in the book, though, is Mary Anning. She has recognition now as a star discoverer of fossils, but the earliest recognition she got in her own time was, sadly, a eulogy at the Geographic Society. She had no advantages she did not make herself. She was poor, her family was low, and she was, of course, a woman. She was born in Lyme Regis, a seaside hamlet on the Dorset coast, and she got her living digging out the cliff's fossils and selling them to private collectors and to academics. She didn't just collect fossils, she analyzed them and compared them to contemporary animals. She had no access to a formal education, but studied the papers of the published experts, sometimes hand copying them with their drawings so that she could keep them for reference. It was, however, always the "clever men" who formally studied the specimens she discovered, and wrote them up, and named them, often without crediting her. None of her specimens bears her name.

The sensational finds described here sparked heated debates on many issues. Some who believed that God had created all, for instance, insisted that there could be no such thing as an extinction, for that would mean that God had produced some creatures mistakenly. The enormous and ancient beasts found by the fossilists meant that people had to start questioning the usefulness of the Bible as a guide to cosmology. In fact, most of the fossilists described in these pages believed strictly in the Bible, and were unconvinced when Lyell published on geology or Darwin on evolution. McGowan's entertaining book fits them within the social and intellectual history of the period, and shows that although they did not directly pave the way for Darwin, their discoveries put forth evidence to be argued about, and they fostered the learned debate that has resulted in our current understanding of geology and biology.

A facinating historical account of important fossil finds in nineteenth century England. Extensively researched and expertly presented. A great insight into a period when basic understanding of the fossil record was developing fast. Interesting notes on the role of contempory collectors and institutions. All in all a good read which will appeal to a wide range of readers. Certainly not your average fossil book.

This book is ideal for paleontology students or avid dinosaurphiles. Math is used extensively to demonstrate how dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures walked, ran, swam, flew, etc. The book gives a wonderful glimpse into how the hard science of paleontology is performed, instead of glossing over the math like many other popular books do. Once you finish this book, you will never look at dinosaurs the same way again.

This book is a bit different. It examines the extent of what we know, or do not know, and on the basis of what evidence. The discussion of what we can tell from teeth, or marks on the bones, etc is the meat of the book. What we can tell with high confidence and what we cannot! Very interesting indeed, and he is not afraid to say "look, this is slender eveidence for such and such a theory."

I really liked this approach.

I thoroughly enjoyed this volume even though I am not really a dinosaur enthusiast. A little old (c. 1992), it is still a very readable and comprehensive text on the paleontology of dinosarus. The author covers recent findings regarding dinosaur skeletal structure and what it tells of lifestyle, their modes of locomotion and what it implies of thermoregulation, etc. The book would definitely be a valuable first line undergraduate textbook on the subject and on paleontology as a field of research. It also might interest an enthusiastic younger student even to the level of junior high as long as he or she was a reader with a sophisticated vocabulary or one with some knowledge of the discipline already.

Chris McGowan does an outstanding job of presenting the evidence for the occurrence of evolution. Where applicable, he demonstrates the inadequacy of creationism to account for evidence and how creationists must ultimately invoke divine causes to complete their model of origins

Denton covers most of the major creationist claims, and shows why creationism is bunk. Those who detest creationists for trying to force their pseudoscience into schools will find this book invaluable, and those who are unfamiliar with the subject will find this a good introduction

The relationship between predator and prey is hard to explain without lapsing into inapplicable morality and/or sentimentality. This 'popular science' type book shows valient effort, but doesn't entirely manage to avoid the traps.

It does have good points, to be sure. It is approachable for the non-scientist, both in language and in concept. It does attempt to show some balance by presenting plants as victims of herbivores, as well as herbivores as victims of carnivores. It elucidates the various theories of the evolutionary backgrounds of predator-prey adaptations pretty clearly.

However, in an attempt to be gripping, the book delves into shameless anthropomorphism and value-laden language, especially in the narrative portions. Despite the fact (clearly stated in the explanatory portions of the book) that even a good predator on a good day succeeds in less than fifty percent of hunting attempts, a predator is 'shown' missing a prey animal only once (and even then the predator goes on to catch a different animal.) As a result, the 'story' parts of the book create a misapprehension that the more 'scientific' sections include an obligatory protest against - namely, that the predator is a killing machine with an almost moral quality, engaged in a daily slaughter of the innocents. Even the title plays into this misapprehension: No raptor is shown eating a lamb in the course of the book - indeed few raptors are even capable of preying on lambs - and no lambs are shown being eaten by any other predators either; but in our language the rapicious raptor and the innocent, fluffy lamb create a much greater emotional impact than, say, the shark and the seal or the lion and the wildebeast.

This book read, in part, like a novel with good guys (nature's prey) and the bad guys (the predators)...it was a gruesome, at times, but realistic book about survival. I enjoyed it very much.

This is the best and I stress best book you can possibly get for someone that you believe or know enjoys biology or natural studies. However, it goes beyond that, this book is perfect for the person who likes cats and dogs and wants to know their specific differences and how they act in the wild. His writing style is very interesting and informative (not dumbed down but not highly scientific). A very excellent book for a plane ride or just a relaxing read (meanwhile you may learn something). Highly recommended. Hopefully some of his out-of-print books will be reprinted.