Discovering Dinosaurs: in the American Museum of Natural History [Hardcover]

Mark Norell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0679433864 | ISBN-13: 978-0679433866 | Publication Date: May 2, 1995 | Edition: 1

Curators of the re-installation of the Hall of Dinosaurs at the American Museum of Natural History, the authors document the collection of dinosaur skeletons and recount the experiences of the paleontologists who have scoured remote lands in search of evidence of these animals. Contains 167 illustrations, charts and maps in color and b&w. National author media.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is a superb guide to the renovated Hall of Dinosaurs, opening June 2 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The authors, museum curators, introduce the collections, which are not arranged (as usual) by geologic time but by shared characteristics, a system known as cladastics. The authors discuss the evolutionary relationships of dinosaurs and list a phylogenetic classification, which includes modern birds. A section of questions and answers ranging in topic from such physical characteristics as size, skin and teeth to preparation and assembly of specimens prepares us for the exhibits that follow. Here are descriptions of 41 dinosaurs, plus their tracks and eggs. The final section describes five museum expeditions. Handsomely illustrated by 167 photos and maps, some in color, this volume takes us into a new world of dinosaurs.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Scientific American

A text centered on family reading...No way are these authors mere stick in the muds...fresh and compelling.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 204 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (May 2, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679433864
• ISBN-13: 978-0679433866
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 9.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #897,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go to the AMNH without setting foot outside your home!, December 10, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Discovering Dinosaurs: in the American Museum of Natural History (Hardcover)

Even if you think you have no interest whatsoever in dinosaurs, you can still enjoy Discovering Dinosaurs in the American Museum of Natural History. Reading this book rivals taking an actual trip to the museum's splendid dinosaur halls. Norell, Gaffney, and Dingus present the first half of the book in question-answer format and dedicate the second half to AMNH specimens and expeditions. Questions range from the simple (What are dinosaurs?) to the complicated (How did nonavian dinosaurs become extinct?) to the unusual (How did dinosaurs mate?). You can poke in a coprolite (fossilized dung) to find what dinosaurs ate or see how workers mount colossal skeletons. Along with answers and information, you get a bonus prize: the incredible illustrations of Erwin Christman. Few contemporary artists can compete with the beauty and accuracy of Christman's nearly century-old work. A drawing or photograph graces nearly every page of Discovering Dinosaurs. Photographs depict paleontology's past, specimens of dinosaurs and of animals that lived at the same time as them, trackways, and current assignments. The book includes the stunning results of the AMNH Gobi expeditions of 1991-1995: beautifully preserved skeletons of oviraptors. Whether you want to examine the texture of dinosaur skin or peer into a tyrannosaur's mouth, Discovering Dinosaurs gets two claws up--20 feet up!