Book recommendations

[JohannesB]

Anyone read Hallett & Wedel, 2016, The Sauropod Dinosaurs: Life in the Age of Giants? Any opinions?

I have this book and highly recommend it.  No question about the sauropods  remains unanswered,  the drawings and paintings are top notch and the text has been written by an expert.

Thanks. I had that impression as well. It is my kind of book: an exhaustive but not too technical exposé, beautifully edited, with lots of beautiful art work/illustrations.

[Libraraptor]

Anyone read Hallett & Wedel, 2016, The Sauropod Dinosaurs: Life in the Age of Giants? Any opinions?

I have this book and highly recommend it.  No question about the sauropods  remains unanswered,  the drawings and paintings are top notch and the text has been written by an expert.

Thanks. I had that impression as well. It is my kind of book: an exhaustive but not too technical exposé, beautifully edited, with lots of beautiful art work/illustrations.

Exactly!

[HD-man]

I'm definitely looking forward to the Zoehfeld's Deep Time: A Journey to Dinosaurs and Beyond ( https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Time-Journey-Dinosaurs-Beyond/dp/1999967917 ), Norell's The World of Dinosaurs: An Illustrated Tour ( https://www.amazon.com/World-Dinosaurs-Illustrated-Tour/dp/022662272X ), & Smithsonian Dinosaurs and Other Amazing Creatures from Deep Time (especially the latter, given "the museum's new Deep Time Hall": https://www.amazon.com/Smithsonian-Dinosaurs-Other-Amazing-Creatures-ebook/dp/B07H1XJTJB ).

Definitely NOT looking forward to Dixon/Fabri's In Search Of Dinosaurs & Benton's Dinosaurs Rediscovered: The Scientific Revolution in Paleontology (See "Semi-good" & "Bad" for why: https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-Good-semi-good-and-bad-dino-sources-2-454991435 ). Also, the Benton book's title is already taken by a famous dino book ( https://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-Rediscovered-Findings-Revolutionizing-Dinosaur/dp/0671797158 ).

[tYRantOsAur]

Here's a book list:
Noah's Ravens: https://www.amazon.com/Noahs-Ravens-Interpreting-Tridactyl-Footprints/dp/025302725X
Dinosaurs: https://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-How-They-Lived-Evolved/dp/1588345823 Believe me I read this book, it is very good
The Paleoartist's Handbook: https://www.amazon.com/Palaeoartists-Handbook-Recreating-Prehistoric-Animals/dp/1785004611/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MH8NHM35RJNSQRNEH81T
Jurassic World: https://www.amazon.com/Jurassic-World-Kingdom-Dinosaur-Survival/dp/0525580840/ref=asc_df_0525580840/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312053899840&hvpos=1o7&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6873127474400344262&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031621&hvtargid=pla-563395540499&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=61316180799&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312053899840&hvpos=1o7&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6873127474400344262&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031621&hvtargid=pla-563395540499
Acrocanthosaurus Inside and Out: https://www.amazon.com/Acrocanthosaurus-Inside-Out-Kenneth-Carpenter/dp/0806153938
Hadrosaurs: https://www.amazon.com/Hadrosaurs-Life-Past-David-Eberth/dp/0253013852/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=EDQD517VE5TMQAB1SHW9
Biology of the Sauropod Dinosaurs: https://www.amazon.com/Biology-Sauropod-Dinosaurs-Understanding-Giants/dp/0253355087/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=EDQD517VE5TMQAB1SHW9
Tyrannosaurid Paleobiology: https://www.amazon.com/Tyrannosaurid-Paleobiology-Life-RALPH-MOLNAR/dp/0253009308/ref=asc_df_0253009308/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312090128349&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17888485510341010644&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031621&hvtargid=pla-492309407640&psc=1

[Newt]

The Evolution Underground focuses on fossil burrows, while Dinosaurs Without Bones covers trackways, feeding traces, etc. Both books, by Anthony J. Martin, are good intros for general readers to the science of paleo-ichnology and why it matters.


The Dinosaur Artist by Paige Williams is a true-crime story focusing on the arrest of American fossil dealer Eric Prokopi for smuggling of Mongolian fossils. It's an interesting look at the world of private fossil collectors and dealers and their intersection with science and politics, and provides sympathetic portraits of dealers, scientists, activists, and prosecutors. A good read if you are interested in the human side of paleontology.


I'm currently working my way through Henry Fairfield Osborn's monographic magnum opus, The Proboscidea. Unfortunately I purchased it as a reprint by a company called Classic Reprints; while the print quality is good (unlike some reprints I've bought in the past, which were virtually or actually illegible), they for some reason chose to print the pages quite small, leaving exorbitant margins. Reading this tiny text is headache-inducing, and the illustrations cannot be appreciated without a magnifying glass. The work itself, however, is fascinating, if dense. Like all mammalogy texts, it's tooth-centric, so if you don't know a protolophid from a proconolophid, you may need to keep Google open to serve as a glossary. Osborne's taxonomy has long since been superseded, but I like reading works with outdated taxonomies - the reasoning behind the old classifications is often edifying. Also, lots of ace illustrations - both beautiful drawings of fossils, and some quite nice lithographic reconstructions by paleoartist Margaret Finscher.

[Halichoeres]

The Evolution Underground focuses on fossil burrows, while Dinosaurs Without Bones covers trackways, feeding traces, etc. Both books, by Anthony J. Martin, are good intros for general readers to the science of paleo-ichnology and why it matters.


The Dinosaur Artist by Paige Williams is a true-crime story focusing on the arrest of American fossil dealer Eric Prokopi for smuggling of Mongolian fossils. It's an interesting look at the world of private fossil collectors and dealers and their intersection with science and politics, and provides sympathetic portraits of dealers, scientists, activists, and prosecutors. A good read if you are interested in the human side of paleontology.


I'm currently working my way through Henry Fairfield Osborn's monographic magnum opus, The Proboscidea. Unfortunately I purchased it as a reprint by a company called Classic Reprints; while the print quality is good (unlike some reprints I've bought in the past, which were virtually or actually illegible), they for some reason chose to print the pages quite small, leaving exorbitant margins. Reading this tiny text is headache-inducing, and the illustrations cannot be appreciated without a magnifying glass. The work itself, however, is fascinating, if dense. Like all mammalogy texts, it's tooth-centric, so if you don't know a protolophid from a proconolophid, you may need to keep Google open to serve as a glossary. Osborne's taxonomy has long since been superseded, but I like reading works with outdated taxonomies - the reasoning behind the old classifications is often edifying. Also, lots of ace illustrations - both beautiful drawings of fossils, and some quite nice lithographic reconstructions by paleoartist Margaret Finscher.

Was the original by Osborn printed that way expressly so people could scribble in the margins? Or is this actually a conscious decision by Classic Reprints?

[Newt]

I have not seen the original, but I do not believe the reprint is printed at the same size as the original. I believe the tiny text is a function of the reprinting process. For one, the reprint is typical non-fiction paperback (octavo) size (9" x 6"), while I believe the original AMNH memoir was printed at folio size (ca. 13" x 8"). The margins also seem inflated compared to PDF scans I've seen of other AMNH memoirs.


As far as a "conscious" decision, I don't know how much actual human oversight goes into this process. This is just a bound printoff of a scanned original. The formatting may be done by an algorithm. It occurred to me that the size of print may be something like the View Full Page button in a PDF reader that sets the screen width to the widest page in the document, which may be a double-page chart or illustration. Similarly, the Classic Reprints algorithm may have shrunk the pages so that the widest scan - no doubt one that picked up some text from the facing page which was not cropped away - would fit. I'm just guessing here, I really have no knowledge of the process.


At any rate, the AMNH has been slowly adding scans of its old publications to its online library, so hopefully this title will be available to view online before too long. Printed original copies are hard to come by - Amazon and Abe Books turned up nothing when I searched, and even if one shows up it will likely be out of my price range.

[HD-man]

I'm definitely looking forward to the Zoehfeld's Deep Time: A Journey to Dinosaurs and Beyond ( https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Time-Journey-Dinosaurs-Beyond/dp/1999967917 ), Norell's The World of Dinosaurs: An Illustrated Tour ( https://www.amazon.com/World-Dinosaurs-Illustrated-Tour/dp/022662272X ), & Smithsonian Dinosaurs and Other Amazing Creatures from Deep Time (especially the latter, given "the museum's new Deep Time Hall": https://www.amazon.com/Smithsonian-Dinosaurs-Other-Amazing-Creatures-ebook/dp/B07H1XJTJB ).

Norell's book has since been published. Has anyone here read it yet? If so, is it a natural history of dinos ( http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=5963.0 )? I think so based on what I've heard about it ( https://openlettersreview.com/open-letters-review/the-world-of-dinosaurs-an-illustrated-tour-by-mark-a-norell ), but I haven't yet read it, so I can't say for sure.

[brontosauruschuck]

You know what is a really great book? The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek by Evelyn Sibley Lampman. Its sequel The Shy Stegosaurus of Indian Springs is also really good. It's a fiction book for children. It's not quite 'my first chapter book' but it's also easy enough for students to read if they're not quite ready for Raptor Red (think about third grade to about fifth grade). If you look for scientific accuracy, it's going to be pretty groan-inducing, but it's a product of its time and it's fun. The Shy Stegosaurus of Indian Springs is also really very in touch with sociopolitical issues that are faced by American Indians, especially for the time it was written. I feel like these are really great books that I grew up with and I think they're out of print now and nobody else seems to remember them. I googled it just now to get the authors name and I found out there was also a cartoon. It looks terrible. I'm going to watch it when I get off work this evening.

[Halichoeres]

Of particular interest to those in the US, here's a book I recently picked up at a fossil and gem show in New Jersey. 50 State Fossils by Yinan Wang, illustrated by Jane Levy. https://www.schifferbooks.com/the-50-state-fossils-a-guidebook-for-aspiring-paleontologists-6529.html


It goes through the 50 US states plus the for-no-good-reason-not-a-state District of Columbia, giving a brief description and stylized illustration of the state fossil of each. Some states don't have a state fossil, in which case Yang suggests one, sometimes based on failed bills that have been proposed to designate one. It's simple enough to be accessible for kids, but there's enough information in it that most adults could learn something from it too.

[Duna]

Hello, any recommendations for books in Spanish language? I have a nice scientific (which I loved when I was a child) but totally outdated David Norman's ilustrated Enciclopaedia:



And another of Pterosaurs:




I'm looking for more updated books, preferably of all dinosaurs and non dinosaurs, I you know any, please let me know. I think I could try some in English, but having these two I would like to buy others in Spanish.

Thanks!

[Halichoeres]

The book Récords y curiosidades de los dinosaurios  is now available in an English editiom but was originally written in Spanish.
https://www.abebooks.com/Récords-curiosidades-dinosaurios-Larramendi-Escorza-Asier/22671354071/bd

[Duna]

The book Récords y curiosidades de los dinosaurios  is now available in an English editiom but was originally written in Spanish.
https://www.abebooks.com/Récords-curiosidades-dinosaurios-Larramendi-Escorza-Asier/22671354071/bd

Thanks Halichoeres! I've seen it's a very new book, that will be my Christmas present for sure

By the way, today I've been at my parents's house and I've found another two books I didn't even remmember:

Larousse de los dinosaurios - De la A a la Z (it's not as scientific as the other enciclopaedia, but it's very good, talks about most dinosaurs and non dinosaurs, taxonomy, theories ...)




Larousse de los mamíferos prehistóricos (después de los dinosaurios): Same as the other one. Wonderful illustrations, also.

[HD-man]

Larousse de los dinosaurios - De la A a la Z (it's not as scientific as the other enciclopaedia, but it's very good, talks about most dinosaurs and non dinosaurs, taxonomy, theories ...)

Actually, it's not an encyclopedia at all, but a natural history of dinos:

[Shonisaurus]

Larousse of the dinosaurs of the dinosaurs is a good enough juvenile encyclopedia comes with illustrations by Raúl Martín one of the best Spanish paleoartists of the moment.

[HD-man]

Larousse of the dinosaurs of the dinosaurs is a good enough juvenile encyclopedia comes with illustrations by Raúl Martín one of the best Spanish paleoartists of the moment.

Like I said in my previous comment (I.e. The 1 right above your comment), it's not an encyclopedia at all, but a natural history of dinos:

[Shonisaurus]

Larousse of the dinosaurs of the dinosaurs is a good enough juvenile encyclopedia comes with illustrations by Raúl Martín one of the best Spanish paleoartists of the moment.

Like I said in my previous comment (I.e. The 1 right above your comment), it's not an encyclopedia at all, but a natural history of dinos:

Yes, I saw your previous comment. What I want to say though in the book indicates that the book on the cover shown is illustrated by Raúl Martín. That is the reason for my comment I know I was redundant in my comment, but it was an excuse to comment on how the book is since I know it a lot since I have it in my library for at least twenty years and I can affirm that that book is profusely illustrated and its illustrations are scientific and of an outstanding paleoartistic beauty. On each page, the story of more than 60 dinosaurs is explained as if it were a card, and apart from that there are several double-page illustrations of dinosaurs with hyper-realistic illustrations recommended. On the other hand comes with the prologue of José Luis Sanz one of the best paleontologists that exist in Spain.

[Halichoeres]

I recently stumbled across the English edition of Molina-Pérez and Larramendi's book, whose English title is Dinosaur Facts and Figures: The Theropods and Other Dinosauriformes. It's a fun book, and I'm learning a lot. The artwork is beautiful, and the authors clearly went to the trouble of exhaustively searching the relevant literature for their statistics. I find the focus on the biggest and smallest of everything a trifle silly, since often those record-holders are extremely fragmentary and I'd rather learn more about animals known from good remains. I also find myself wishing I had bought the Spanish edition instead, as the English translation has many mistranslations that arise from a single word in Spanish having multiple senses, senses served by separate words in English. This is somewhat distracting, although I don't think it actually produces any misleading or factually incorrect prose, merely odd phrasing. If you can read both English and Spanish, I think you should get the Spanish version. The English edition is definitely worth the 30 or so dollars it cost, however.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

If you don't mind books aimed at a slightly younger audience, I just reviewed Vailshali Shroff's The Adventures of Padma and a Blue Dinosaur. This combination storybook and encyclopedia brings some much needed attention to the dinosaurs of India, which don't get nearly the publicity they deserve in pop culture!
See my review here:
https://dinodadreviews.com/2019/08/17/the-adventures-of-padma-and-a-blue-dinosaur/

[brontosauruschuck]

If you don't mind books aimed at a slightly younger audience, I just reviewed Vailshali Shroff's The Adventures of Padma and a Blue Dinosaur. This combination storybook and encyclopedia brings some much needed attention to the dinosaurs of India, which don't get nearly the publicity they deserve in pop culture!
See my review here:
https://dinodadreviews.com/2019/08/17/the-adventures-of-padma-and-a-blue-dinosaur/

Cool! I'm always interested to hear about books for kids. Thanks for posting this!