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Donald R. Prothero

Greenhouse of the Dinosaurs: Evolution, Extinction, and the Future of Our Planet Hardcover – July 1, 2009

by Donald R. Prothero (Author)

4.1 17 ratings

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Donald R. Prothero's science books combine leading research with first-person narratives of discovery, injecting warmth and familiarity into a profession that has much to offer nonspecialists. Bringing his trademark style and wit to an increasingly relevant subject of concern, Prothero links the climate changes that have occurred over the past 200 million years to their effects on plants and animals. In particular, he contrasts the extinctions that ended the Cretaceous period, which wiped out the dinosaurs, with those of the later Eocene and Oligocene epochs.

Prothero begins with the "greenhouse of the dinosaurs," the global-warming episode that dominated the Age of Dinosaurs and the early Age of Mammals. He describes the remarkable creatures that once populated the earth and draws on his experiences collecting fossils in the Big Badlands of South Dakota to sketch their world. Prothero then discusses the growth of the first Antarctic glaciers, which marked the Eocene-Oligocene transition, and shares his own anecdotes of excavations and controversies among colleagues that have shaped our understanding of the contemporary and prehistoric world.

The volume concludes with observations about Nisqually Glacier and other locations that show how global warming is happening much quicker than previously predicted, irrevocably changing the balance of the earth's thermostat. Engaging scientists and general readers alike, Greenhouse of the Dinosaurs connects events across thousands of millennia to make clear the human threat to natural climate change.

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Columbia University Press
Publication date

July 1, 2009
Dimensions

6.36 x 0.92 x 9.28 inches
ISBN-10

0231146604
ISBN-13

978-0231146609
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Prothero, a prolific paleontologist (From Greenhouse to Icehouse) at Occidental College, says the goal for his new book is simply to inject the human side of the profession into the story of the research topics he has worked on during his 40-year career—to show science as a human quest, not just dry conclusions. While the goal is admirable, the result is disappointing, largely because, unlike his previous books, this one doesn't have a central theme: it touches on a range of questions paleontologists have addressed and tentatively answered, such as how dinosaurs could have lived in the Earth's polar regions (as fossil evidence suggests). Prothero's constant shifting of focus makes it difficult to grasp all of the technical content, while the overwhelming minutiae he provides makes you feel like you are viewing an endless series of photographs from a friend's summer vacation. While small sections are powerful—such as a discussion of how global warming might paradoxically trigger the next ice age and do so incredibly rapidly—the book never gels into a coherent whole. Photos, illus. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Prothero has woven together a gripping tale that will fascinate readers with many levels of expertise. ― Fossil News

Greenhouse of the Dinosaurs should be on the suggested reading list for any undergraduate interested in pursuing paleontology, and as a paleobiological statement, shows that paleontology is more than (fossilized) sticks and stones. ― Geology Today

...this is a very enriching, stimulating, and, of course, enjoyable reading. ― Zentralblatt fur Geologie und Palaontologie

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Columbia University Press; First Edition (July 1, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0231146604
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0231146609
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.46 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.36 x 0.92 x 9.28 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,786,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,122 in Paleontology (Books)
- #3,943 in Climatology
- #9,947 in Environmental Science (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.1 17 ratings

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Donald R. Prothero

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Donald R. Prothero has taught geology for over 33 years as Professor of Geology at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and Lecturer in Geobiology at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, and currently at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, CA. He earned M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees in geological sciences from Columbia University in 1982, and a B.A. in geology and biology (highest honors, Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of California, Riverside. He is currently the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of 33 books and over 250 scientific papers, including five leading geology textbooks and three trade books as well as edited symposium volumes and other technical works. He is on the editorial board of Skeptic magazine, and in the past has served as an associate or technical editor for Geology, Paleobiology and Journal of Paleontology. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, the Paleontological Society, and the Linnaean Society of London, and has also received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Science Foundation. He has served as the Vice President of the Pacific Section of SEPM (Society of Sedimentary Geology), and five years as the Program Chair for the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. In 1991, he received the Schuchert Award of the Paleontological Society for the outstanding paleontologist under the age of 40. He has also been featured on several television documentaries, including episodes of Paleoworld (BBC), Prehistoric Monsters Revealed (History Channel), Entelodon and Hyaenodon (National Geographic Channel) and Walking with Prehistoric Beasts (BBC).

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

17 global ratings

5 star		53%
4 star		23%
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1 star		8%

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Michael R Sweney

The Past is the Roadmap of the Future

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 8, 2021

Verified Purchase

Climate change is a topic that should concern us all and Prothero's excellent, scholarly, and entertainingly written account gives us an alarming preview of what may up ahead by looking at the past. Examples include landscapes in America that transitioned from forest to arid desert and back again. Temperatures have gone up and down, sometimes rather quickly and the reader is left with the strong feeling (and foreboding) that we are at the start of another of the bigger swings. Highly recommended.

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Dr. John W. Rippon

The Dinosaurs done gone long ago

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 4, 2009

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Greenhouse of the Dinosaurs is a meaningless title. The dinosaurs are long since gone and the major portion of this book deals with the dating of the dramatic change from the Eocene hot greenhouse earth to the cold Oligocene snow ball earth. A better title would be "Greenhouse after the Dinosaurs (and a clutter of other unrelated things)". This volume seems to have been written with no master plan or aim. It is a collection of after thoughts, anecdotes and dropped sections from the authors voluminous and generally top grade other writings. That is what is so frustrating in trying to review the present volume. Some sections are excellent and relevant to understanding questions of the day in evolutionary biology and paleogeology. These include one of the best discussions yet of "Punk Eek" puctuated equilibrium and it's tremendous effect on evolutionary theory today, plus a meaningful and incisive examination of the events in the "last days" of the dinosaurs and the impact of the bolide out of the sky on the Cretaceous Tertiary Extiction, together with a fine and comprehensible presentation on the revolution in classic taxonomic methodologies brought about by the "invasion" of the standard historic principles by the new field of cladistics. All these sections are presented with a history of the individuals involved, "the Young Turks vs. the Old Guard", the personalities of the players often with the authors personal obervations. There is so much good information and insightful observation here that makes the book worthwhile reading through more than once. But there is also a lot of clutter; the search for paleomagnetic dates and who made the coffee on that trip gets to be a little tedious. This along with other side issues seems like deliberate filler. Yes but --I'm glad I have the scholarly volume warts and all.

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

Christopher J. Norris

Fascinating Details of Fossil Dating

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 9, 2009

Verified Purchase

The title is probably too "pop" for a book that treats fossils and magnetic dating in such detail. But I was able to follow along as a mechanical engineer, the sure sign of good authorship when a nonspecialist understands the topic afterwards. The description of a much warmer world where the poles were tropical was especially good -- I did not realize that the equatorial regions were not much hotter and had never considered that it was still dark for 6 months above the Arctic Circle. It was also surprising to find out that there is not universal agreement that an impact caused the instantaneous extinction of all the dinosaurs. Is this similar to the "unanimous" scientific agreement that global warming is a dire immediate threat?
The final chapter on the climate change "emergency" was unconvincing. The author just spent a whole book convincing us that for much of its history the Earth was naturally warmer and the atmosphere sometimes contained ten times the CO2 it does now. Natural changes in the orbit and inclination of Earth and continental drift have plunged us into ice ages far more challenging to life than anything contemplated by melting even all the existing ice caps. So how is it that a scientist so well educated in the long history of the planet can underestimate human adaptability and overestimate our power over nature so much?

5 people found this helpful

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J. Morris

Excellent from several perspectives

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 9, 2009

Verified Purchase

This book is a fascinating update of North American paleontology, with a clear overview of paleoclimatology with lucid presentation of some of the inherent controversies given our current state of knowledge. I've referred back to this volume several times since I finished it, an indication of its quality as a source.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Educational

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 25, 2013

Verified Purchase

My son and I chose this book because it was recommended to my 10-year-old son by a classmate. he has been engrossed in it since we received it!

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Nick Candoros

Interesting Subjects, sometimes difficult for non-scientists

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 14, 2009

Verified Purchase

First of all the title is a bit misleading. It refers to the first of the book's ten essays on various subjects in paleontology and most of them have to do with issues pertaining to prehistoric mammals - the author's specialty - and not the "catchy" dinosaurs.
But that's not a problem. Mr. Prothero's prose is as clear as ever and the way he approaches his subjects show the proper mix of boyish enthusiasm and scientific caution, since in many occasions data in support in one thesis or another are scanty or altogether missing. And the conscientious way he points at his (and our) gaps of knowledge, only serves to strengthen those of his conclusions which are based on very concrete scientific evidence and rigorous research.
There are problems though. All subjects are quite interesting in themselves but there is no overall unifying concept connecting them, no big idea or clear message to the reader. Sure, climate change and its dire consequences pop up here and there but it is only one of many broached ideas, not the main or even the strongest one. Also, in quite a few places, the text gets too technical and downright difficult for non-specialists. Finally excavation procedures and problems descriptions, along with the occasional funny incident, are of some value to the reader but not so the author's analytical description of his education and eulogy to his teachers, almost always described as "brilliant" or "outstanding". Of course good teachers are a blessing but not a very interesting subject for popular science reading.
The overall impression is that this is interesting stuff, sometimes great stuff, but addressed more to prospective paleontologists than the general public.

7 people found this helpful

Gia

era un regalo molto apprezzato!

Reviewed in Italy 🇮🇹 on September 23, 2019

Verified Purchase

era un regalo molto apprezzato!

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