A sweeping and groundbreaking history of the age of dinosaurs, from one of our finest young scientists
The dinosaurs. 66 million years ago, the Earth’s most fearsome and spectacular creatures vanished. Today their extraordinary true story remains one of our planet’s great mysteries.
In this stunning narrative spanning more than 200 million years, Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist … Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field—discovering ten new species and leading groundbreaking scientific studies and fieldwork—masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs, drawing on cutting-edge science to dramatically bring to life their lost world and illuminate their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy. Captivating and revelatory, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is a book for the ages.
Brusatte traces the evolution of dinosaurs from their inauspicious start as small shadow dwellers—themselves the beneficiaries of a mass extinction caused by volcanic eruptions at the beginning of the Triassic period—into the dominant array of species every wide-eyed child memorizes today, T. rex, Triceratops, Brontosaurus, and more. This gifted scientist and writer re-creates the dinosaurs’ peak during the Jurassic and Cretaceous, when thousands of species thrived, and winged and feathered dinosaurs, the prehistoric ancestors of modern birds, emerged. The story continues to the end of the Cretaceous period, when a giant asteroid or comet struck the planet and nearly every dinosaur species (but not all) died out, in the most extraordinary extinction event in earth’s history, one full of lessons for today as we confront a “sixth extinction.”
Brusatte also recalls compelling stories from his globe-trotting expeditions during one of the most exciting eras in dinosaur research—which he calls “a new golden age of discovery”—and offers thrilling accounts of some of the remarkable findings he and his colleagues have made, including primitive human-sized tyrannosaurs; monstrous carnivores even larger than T. rex; and paradigm-shifting feathered raptors from China.
An electrifying scientific history that unearths the dinosaurs’ epic saga, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs will be a definitive and treasured account for decades to come.
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Brusatte delivers a cutting-edge account of Earth’s most awe-inspiring age — and does so with great skill, humor, and wonder. Captures the majesty of the creatures he studies, as well as their breathtaking evolutionary ride.
A very nice summation of the currently accepted events leading to the emergence and then the obliteration of the dinosaurs. There is nothing new here but the level of evidence and explication is remarkable. An enjoyable read.
We’re ALL familiar with dinosaurs but this covers information I never thought of before.
Easily accessible and concise account of 200+ million years of evolutionary history. Brusatte explains what we know about dinosaurs and how we know it. He debunks myths but is open about what we don’t yet know and what we would need to find on order to answer those questions. He weaves in stories about his own paleontology experiences as well as recounts stories from other expert scientists in the field. The book begins well before the dinosaurs and takes a while to get to the famous ones we all know: TRex, Brontosaurus, etc. Once he gets to the Theropods and Sauropods, the book is incredibly engrossing culminating in an unforgettable description of the last days of the dinosaurs. Highly recommend for anyone who still wishes they were Dr. Alan Grant or Dr. Ellie Sadler.
The author needed more illustrations or pictures of the dinosaurs he was describing. I had to keep searching the net for most of them. Over all very informative & good stories.
Educational, entertaining, accessible. This look into the fascinating world of palaeontology was a highly enjoyable read.
Wonderfully readable style, wonderful science, goes well with Google Earth
Interesting
Very interesting look at the dinosaurs. I learned quite a bit new and came away with some new perspectives.
Best Dino book I’ve ever read. Highly recommended.
This is a book about dinosaurs and I enjoyed learning some things I did not know.
A great read. It was all could do to put it aside. A fascinatingly complex and surprisingly entertaining account of why we’re here. As a kid and now well into my twilight years the story of the mighty dinosaurs has always been enjoyably followed by this geologist. Remember when our oil came from the demise of these animals? Mr. Brusatte has put an ancient mystery with sketchy data into an easy, enjoyable tale putting you right there with these creatures..
I loved this book. Dinosaurs have captured my imagination since I was a child. I could almost feel the heat beating down and then the excitement of finding bones. The disappointment of searching and searching and not finding anything. Then, the description of the past earth with the amazing animals. I find myself truly delighted to know that birds are dinosaurs.
Well written and illustrated
I descried this science book as a page turner, because for me it was. I kept turning page after page, not because I was caught up in the plot, obviously, but because the author knows how to write. (Not all scientists do!) The author is obsessed with dinosaurs and his enthusiasm is compelling. He makes them come alive, well for a while before they die! The book is like time travel. Highly recommended for non-scientists who are interested in dinosaurs.
Great intro to current thinking about what happened to the dinosaurs….and what may lie ahead for the earth
It was a good read to understand the life and death of dinosaurs.
I love dinosaurs. I got a degree in geology and spent several years attempting to get a masters degree in paleontology. I routinely attend the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, and I’ve written my own coloring/activity book about dinosaurs. So, take it from a verifiable dinosaur nerd that you need to read this book. Stephen presents a wonderful narrative and history of the age of dinosaurs, weaving in the latest scientific research with a witty and interesting narrative that encompasses his own love for dinosaurs that started well before his career as a paleontologist took off.
We learn about the end Permian extension that cleared the way for the dinosaur ancestors and eventually the dinosaurs themselves to take the stage in the Triassic. About the diversity and abundance of the dinosaurs during the Jurassic, and the pinnacle of the dinosaur empire during the Cretaceous. Stephen explains in very easy to understand language the latest science that explains how the dinosaurs proliferated to fill practically every niche in the world, how they were still thriving until the very end, and how dinosaurs continue to survive today, their lineage continuing as birds. (FYI – Birds ARE dinosaurs, if you’ve missed that bit of news.)
I highly recommend The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs to anybody who is not only a dinosaur lover, but who has an interest in the natural world around us and how we continue to explore and learn about our world’s amazing history. Stephen Brusatte does a wonderful job of bringing this ancient animals to life, and clearing away a lot of the scientific dogma that has surrounded dinosaur science in the past several decades.
I listened to the audiobook version of the book read by Patrick Lawlor. There were no production problems with the book and Patrick does an excellent job of pronouncing not only the usual plethora of dinosaur names, but also the many out of the way localities around the world that often have names designed to be tongue-twisters.
An up-to-the-minute account of the long history and remarkable biology of these extraordinary animals.
I have found this book absolutely fascinating and hard to put down. I was an archaeologist, not a paleontologist, so never really got caught up in being interested in dinosaurs. But this book is not only informative but easy to read and understand. The author has done a great job in his research and work and presents the various types of dinosaurs through the ages in a very understandable format. It is not written as a textbook but as an absolutely fascinating story which it certainly is..