Favorite Paleontologist

[Everything_Dinosaur]

Palaeontologist Dean Lomax (honorary scientist at Manchester University), will be presenting a talk all about "Jurassic Britain" at the forthcoming Cheltenham Science Festival, a great opportunity to meet and discuss dinosaurs (plus the Ichthyosauria) with a professional palaeontologist.  Event takes place on Sunday June 11th - more details here: Popular Palaeontologist to Present at Prestigious UK Science Event

[Ally Ro]

For me it's John Ostrom, bcz I read him most of all, but there are many others ...

[HD-man]

The following quotes are from "Good, semi-good, & bad dino sources": http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=4742.0

Holtz & Milner

Holtz's "Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages" ( http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-Complete-Up---Date-Encyclopedia/dp/0375824197 ) & Gardom/Milner's "The Natural History Museum Book of Dinosaurs" ( http://www.amazon.com/Natural-History-Museum-Book-Dinosaurs/dp/184442183X ) are the best encyclopedic & non-encyclopedic dino books, respectively, for casual readers. Taylor's review of the former ( http://www.miketaylor.org.uk/dino/books/index.html#hr2007 ) & The Book Depository's description of the latter ( http://www.bookdepository.com/Natural-History-Museum-Book-Dinosaurs-Tim-Gardom/9781844421831?b=-3&t=-20#Fulldescription-20 ) sum up most of the reasons why, but not the most important reason: Holtz & the NHM keeps updates on "Supplementary Information for Holtz's Dinosaurs" ( http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/dinoappendix/ ) & "The Dino Directory" ( http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/dinosaurs-other-extinct-creatures/dino-directory/index.html ), respectively, when parts of said books become outdated.

Naish

You could say Conway et al. ("All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals": http://www.amazon.com/All-Yesterdays-Speculative-Dinosaurs-Prehistoric/dp/1291177124 ) are the A-Team of paleoart: Naish does the paleontology ("Darren Naish | palaeozoological researcher, consultant, author, lecturer": http://darrennaish.wordpress.com/ );* Conway does the art ("John Conway's Art": http://johnconway.co/ ); Kosemen drives the van ("C. M. Kosemen": http://cmkosemen.com ).

*Naish's popular dino books (excluding "All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals", which is for the enthusiast)/blogs are for casual readers/the enthusiast, respectively.

Bakker

To paraphrase Switek ( http://scienceblogs.com/laelaps/2008/04/07/paleontological-profiles-rober/ ), Bakker ("Robert T. Bakker, Ph.D. | Houston Museum Of Natural Science": http://www.hmns.org/exhibits/curators/robert-t-bakker-ph-d/ ) is not only "a working paleontologist" (He led/leads the Dinosaur Renaissance/HMNS paleontology field program, respectively), but also 1 of the most "effective popularizers of science": His older popular work "inspired many young paleontologists and spun off numerous artistic clones" ( http://openpaleo.blogspot.com/2010/11/book-review-princeton-field-guide-to.html ); His newer popular work includes "inspiring reads for students in the early grades of elementary school" ( http://www.parentingscience.com/paleontology-for-kids-reviews.html ); He also blogs ( https://blog.hmns.org/2010/03/raptors-group-hunters-or-cannibals/ ), lectures ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHJMOgzbI3w ), curates exhibitions ( http://www.hmns.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=336&Itemid=371 ), & appears in documentaries ( http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/secrets-of-the-dinosaur-mummy/ ).

Sampson

Sampson ("Scott D. Sampson": http://www.scottsampson.net/ ) & Switek ("Brian Switek": http://brianswitek.com/ ) are both paleontologists (professional & amateur, respectively) & popularizers of science who specialize in putting dinos into an evolutionary & ecological context. You could say that 1) Sampson is the new Carl Sagan w/"Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life" basically being a dino-centric version of "Cosmos" (See the Orr quote), & 2) Switek is the new John Noble Wilford w/"My Beloved Brontosaurus: On the Road with Old Bones, New Science, and Our Favorite Dinosaurs" basically being an updated version of "The Riddle of the Dinosaur" (See the Wilford quote).

Quoting Orr ( https://chasmosaurs.blogspot.com/2010/02/dinosaur-odyssey-review.html ): "Sampson is clearly aiming for a Sagan-like position as a popularizer of science, and his prose owes a definite debt to the revered astronomer There are stylistic debts, such as the phrase "in a very real sense," the very real meaning of which I don't know. More importantly, he seems to have been influenced by Sagan's efforts to help his fellow Earthlings understand their precarious place in this huge universe. There is no Dawkinsish acidity here, no baiting of anti-science pundits. The image presented is positive and accessible, tying in with his job as host of the PBS kids cartoon Dinosaur Train. One of the great revelations in my life was that what's happening under my feet is as interesting as what's happening around me. Dinosaur Odyssey, with its easily understood illustrations of the networks that make ecosystems work, has the potential to open plenty of eyes to that reality. This book should be in schools."

Quoting Wilford ( http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/science/my-beloved-brontosaurus-millions-of-years-gone-but-still-evolving.html?_r=1&; ): "Other books have dealt with new dinosaur research, but like museum exhibits on the subject, they quickly become outdated. This may be the one book for catching up on what has become of the dinosaurs you thought you knew from grade school. Mr. Switek and his brontosaur spiritual sidekick take you to dig sites, museums and laboratories to experience the rapid changes in dinosaur paleontology. His account is spiced with history of bone wars in the American West, odd facts and asides. For example, there is no such thing as an intercostal clavicle, the bone Cary Grant is frantically searching for in "Bringing Up Baby.""

Witmer

WitmerLab ("Witmer's Lab and Research": https://people.ohio.edu/witmerl/lab.htm ) is the ultimate source of dino anatomy info. Liebendorfer's "Digital Dinosaurs: How do scientists reconstruct the anatomy of ancient beasts?" ( http://www.ohio.edu/research/communications/witmer.cfm ) sums up why.

Paleoaerie

Whether they're called "Jersey Boys Hunt Dinosaurs" or "Prehistoric Beast of the Week" (henceforth PBOTW: http://prehistoricbeastoftheweek.blogspot.com/ ), DiPiazza & friend(s) are, to paraphrase Thomas Edison ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ1Mz7kGVf0 ), "so dope that [they] even make New Jersey look good". There are 3 main reasons for why I think that is: 1) To quote DiPiazza ( http://prehistoricbeastoftheweek.blogspot.com/p/meet-team.html ), "Never before has there been a site that revolved around paleontology that ALSO had a strong foothold in modern animal biology, particularly endangered species conservation"; Naish's "Tetrapod Zoology" is similar, but more for the enthusiast, while PBOTW is more for casual readers; Point is, very few sources are consistently good at combining paleontology & zoology;** 2) DiPiazza is "a published paleo-artist, having painted images of dinosaurs and other prehistoric life for displays in museums, books, magazines, scientific publications, and websites. His professional experience, working closely with and observing living animals, gives him an inspirational edge when creating paleo-art" ( http://prehistoricbeastoftheweek.blogspot.com/p/meet-team.html ); In other words, DiPiazza's paleoart is both the medium & the message of PBTOW's awesomeness; 3) DiPiazza & friend(s) remind me of a young Bakker in terms of background & outreach ( http://prehistoricbeastoftheweek.blogspot.com/p/media.html ); I hope they write/illustrate dino books like Bakker too, someday.

"Paleoaerie" ( http://paleoaerie.org/ ) is to AR what "Prehistoric Beast of the Week" is to NJ.

[tyrantqueen]

Bakker. I find him very likable.

[Kaprosaurus]

Anning,cause ichthyosaurs