The Dechronization of Sam Magruder: A Novel (Paperback)

by George Gaylord Simpson (Author), Joan Simpson Burns (Editor), Arthur C. Clarke (Introduction), Stephen Jay Gould (Afterword) "What would you do," asked the Universal Historian, "what could you do if you knew you were going to be utterly alone for the rest..." (more)
Key Phrases: Universal Historian, Common Man, George Gaylord Simpson (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This intelligent, if conventional time-travel yarn, which was found by the daughter of the eminent paleontologist Simpson (d. 1984), shows some of the crusty wit of his idiosyncratic autobiography, Concessions to the Improbable. Simpson tells the tale of Sam Magruder, a 22nd-century scientist who slips back to the late Cretaceous period. In this "Crusoe of the Cretaceous," as Clarke dubs it in his appreciative introduction, Magruder's struggle to maintain his mental composure in utter isolation is as important as his struggle for survival among the saurians. In the manner of H.G. Wells's Time Machine, the tale is framed by present-day (in this case, 22nd-century) interlocutors, who try to make sense of Magruder's record, which has been found by a geologist. Simpson uses the story to advance his preferred hypotheses about dinosaurs, most notably that they were cold-blooded and slow (a vision that has come under increasing attack since the 1960s, according to Gould's afterword), but he doesn't sacrifice storytelling to pedantry. When Magruder is shocked at the gleaming white teeth of a T-rex?he'd previously known only fossil-brown?the thought is shocking to the reader, too. The end, which involves an epiphany Sam has when trapping small, shrew-like mammals for their fur, is comic and oddly moving at once: he realizes, with a sense of both awe and the ridiculous, that the creature is his "Great-grandpa."
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Reporters we expect to stash their unpublished Great American Novel in the desk drawer, but famous scientists? Such was the fate of this quaint sf novella by Simpson, a pathbreaking paleontologist who died in 1984. The setup is simple: in the twenty-second century, some academics gather to read an astounding discovery--chiseled writing on eight stone slabs excavated from Cretaceous Period slate. It's the testimony of Sam Magruder, researcher of a quantum theory of time who--shazamm!--slips between quanta and falls into a dinosaur-infested swamp, with no way back to the future. As Earth's only human, Magruder faces cosmic loneliness and despair; but as a scientist he grasps the chance to observe the dinos and settle for future paleontologists the controversies about their appearance and behavior. More than a whimsical survival yarn about a castaway, Simpson's charming tale also touches motifs prominent in the sf genre (e.g., time travel) and receives a deserved publicity boost with a preface and postscript by Arthur Clarke and Stephen Jay Gould, respectively. Gilbert Taylor --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (April 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031215514X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312155148
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #322,625 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Review of "The Dechronization of Sam Magruder, February 12, 2000

By	Someone (Michigan) - See all my reviews

The Dechronization of Sam Magruder is an intriguing story of science and adventure. It is about a scientist who constructs a time machine, is accidentally transported to the dinosaur age and is, as you may have guessed, unable to return. The story is an account of this journey through his eyes and the eyes of the future...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars De-chronicalization of George G. Simpson, September 20, 1997

By	[e-mail] (Poland) - See all my reviews

An excellent book, even though it has its flowing horribly compromised by old-fashioned theories (e.g. Simpson says dinosaurs are cold-blooded), for it was written on the last decade. I'd give two reasons for you to read it : the explanations concerning chronology (a future discipline) are very neat; and it has a highly philosophical content. Stephen Gould's posface is nearly undispensable while understanding the text.

Worht reading; specially for fans of the so-called "hard SF"...

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A better look at dinasours than Jurasic Park!, August 26, 1999

By A Customer

Simpson is considered to have been the world's foremost expert in the physiology and functioning of dinasours. As such, his fiction presents a strikingly accurate and fascinating look at the ecosystem of the dinasaur. His look at chronology and time functioning is unscientific and a bit juvenile, but this book is a real adventure!