Quest for the African Dinosaurs: Ancient Roots of the Modern World [Paperback]

Louis Jacobs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 25, 2000 | ISBN-10: 080186481X | ISBN-13: 978-0801864810 | Edition: 1

Winner of the Colbert Award for the best adult book about dinosaurs

Louis Jacobs reopened paleontologists' eyes to the African continent when he uncovered a major fossil site in the hills of Malawi in the 1980s. During five digging seasons in Malawi and three in Cameroon, Jacobs found the remains of two meat-eating theropods, two herbivorous sauropods, an odd crocodile about the size of a Chihuahua, and rare early mammals. Now in paperback, Quest for the African Dinosaurs includes Jacobs' new introduction, which discusses recent developments in paleontological research in Africa.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Excavating in the highlands above Africa's Lake Malawi, paleontologist Jacobs unearthed the remains of a strange crocodile and three dinosaurs, one of which provided a missing link in the fossil record. He uses the story of his discoveries to depict Africa as it was 100 million years ago, when the continent was breaking away from the rest of the world land mass. Taking readers on-site to observe excavation and field work, he elucidates the process of dinosaur identification and the intricacies of their anatomies. Later, visiting a fossil bed in Cameroon's Koum Basin, he notes that the African fossil record covers a great deal of dinosaur history but is frustratingly spotty and incomplete. His own research with the titanosaurid sauropod Malawi-saurus , which chronicles an unbroken 79-million-year history, fills in some of the blanks. This fine book is an important volume for dinosaur fans.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Some important side effects of the popularity of dinosaurs have been to teach many nonscientists about science and to attract students to scientific fields. Paleontologist Jacobs (an expert on the tiny mammals that coexisted with the dinosaurs) packs a huge amount of interesting scientific information into this book and supplements it with entertaining travel stories from Malawi and Cameroon, a dose of African history, informative illustrations, and a bit of scientific skepticism. Lest we think dinosaurs are just a fad in the United States, an interesting subtext tells how Jacobs's paleontological expeditions captured the imagination of local people and led a few African students to study paleontology. Jacobs recounts his adventures with exemplary clarity and a quirky sense of humor and, in the end, produces a good dinosaur book for popular collections.
- Amy Brunvand, Fort Lewis Coll. Lib., Durango, Col.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press; 1 edition (July 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080186481X
• ISBN-13: 978-0801864810
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,383,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Where's the dinos?, November 17, 2000

By 

Kellyannl (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quest for the African Dinosaurs: Ancient Roots of the Modern World (Paperback)

I was really excited to find this book had been rereleased, and grabbed it the minute I saw it. It has a good reputation, and I had liked Jacob's "Lone Star Dinosaurs". Unfortunately, only about half the book is actually about dinosaurs.

A person writing about dinosaurs may have a scientific duty to make the point that dinosaurs were not alone in their world and a moral obligation to discuss the indigenous population if they're describing a dig in a third world country. I can even sympathise with the fact that Jacobs found the giant crocodile and early mammals his expeditions found as fascinating as the dinosaurs but knew that he'd have less of an audience if he didn't push the dinosaurs. But he (or his publishers) should have bitten the bullet and been more honest with the book's title once these other considerations were given as much paper as they were.

That being said, a chapter about Malawisaurus is currently the best source for the general public about Titanosaurid sauropods. As for African dinosaurs in general, this and Phillipe Taquet's interesting "Dinosaur Impressions" are our choices at the moment unless and until we get a book about the turn-of-the-century German expeditions or - more likely - Paul Sereno's recent work. A good, up-to-date work on the dinosaurs of Africa has yet to be written.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Crocodile's Nose??, August 13, 2003

By 

Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Quest for the African Dinosaurs: Ancient Roots of the Modern World (Paperback)

A enterprising editor might have boosted sales of this fine book using a different title. Steve Gould's Panda's Thumbs and Flamingo's Smiles do well. Jacobs' depiction of his search for African dinosaur fossils deserves no less. Along with a fine account of his field work in Malawi and Cameroon, Jacobs' assessment of fossil composition and what it tells us about past life is illuminating. As it happens, the structure of a crocodile's nose tells us whether it lived on land or water. This seemingly dry fact relates to how our own skulls are organized, and why. Deftly woven into his story of seeking dinosaur fossils, tracing the movement of continents over the face of the globe and the status of Malawi's culture in today's world, are the threads of his research. Evolution's had a busy time of it, and Jacobs explains how to read the record of its workings.

Jabobs' travels and observations demolish the image of the austere scientist who cares only for his research and status within his guild. The title isn't "The Dinosaurs of Africa" - he's done that before. Here, he's relating his journey to make those finds, updating information on what he's found. The broader approach means learning of the travails experienced in locating the fossils, what it's like to work a dig, and how he and his team dealt with their host countries. He leaves a valid image of a broadly caring person, untrammeled by his own cultural heritage. Jacobs is adept at bringing the reader into his world. That world has a long time span, with unceasing change the only constant. He traverses millennia more easily than countries. Justly so - there're no border guards at century boundaries.

African dinosaur fossils are elusive in popular science writing. The notoriety given "the Bone Wars" in 19th Century North America have kept interest and funding largely curtailed to that region until recently. Jacobs was among the first to bring the African fossil picture into view. Although finds are being announced from that continent with increasing frequency, few of the scientists have produced a record as readable as Quest for the African dinosaurs. Nor has there come to light other examples of the follow-up in developing local expertise Jacobs has undertaken in Malawi. It's an inspiring story and one of interest far beyond fossil analysis. The final chapter, "The Good of Dinosaurs" demonstrates how a serious scientist can express awareness of his host country and act to improve desperate conditions, even if only marginally. "One small step . . . "

As a reissue, this book requires an editor for more than just a title. Jacobs has a propensity for short, choppy sentences, or else some editor has betrayed him. As it stands, many of these random statements break up the idea he's conveying. Perhaps it's a trick to get the reader to review the prior material. Sometimes it works. Fortunately, it doesn't detract from Jacobs efforts to convey a picture of a shifting, changing Mesozoic world and its inhabitants. He covers ground [more than geographical] rarely addressed by others. He's a good read and a valuable human being. More of you should learn about him from this book. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]