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The World of Dinosaurs: An Illustrated Tour
Dinosaurs have held sway over our imaginations since the discovery of their bones first shocked the world in the nineteenth century. From the monstrous beasts stalking Jurassic Park to the curiosities of the natural history museum, dinosaurs are creatures that unite young and old in awestruck wonder. Digging ever deeper into dinosaurs’ ancient past, science continues to unearth new knowledge about them and the world they inhabited, a fantastic time when the footprints of these behemoths marked the Earth that we humans now walk.
Who better to guide us through this ancient world than paleontologist Mark A. Norell? A world-renowned expert in paleontology, with a knowledge of dinosaurs as deep as the buried fossils they left behind, Norell is in charge of what is perhaps America’s most popular collection of dinosaur bones and fossils, the beloved displays at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. In The World of Dinosaurs, he leads readers through a richly illustrated collection detailing the evolution of these ancient creatures. From the horns of the Protoceratops to the wings of the Archaeopteryx, readers are invited to explore profiles of dinosaurs along with hundreds of color photographs, sketches, maps, and other materials—all rooted in the latest scientific discoveries—sure to both capture the imagination and satisfy a prehistoric curiosity. The World of Dinosaurs presents an astonishing collection of knowledge in an immersive visual journey that will fascinate any fan of Earth’s ancient inhabitants.
Who better to guide us through this ancient world than paleontologist Mark A. Norell? A world-renowned expert in paleontology, with a knowledge of dinosaurs as deep as the buried fossils they left behind, Norell is in charge of what is perhaps America’s most popular collection of dinosaur bones and fossils, the beloved displays at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. In The World of Dinosaurs, he leads readers through a richly illustrated collection detailing the evolution of these ancient creatures. From the horns of the Protoceratops to the wings of the Archaeopteryx, readers are invited to explore profiles of dinosaurs along with hundreds of color photographs, sketches, maps, and other materials—all rooted in the latest scientific discoveries—sure to both capture the imagination and satisfy a prehistoric curiosity. The World of Dinosaurs presents an astonishing collection of knowledge in an immersive visual journey that will fascinate any fan of Earth’s ancient inhabitants.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published March 8, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 5, 2020
Features of this appear to diminish its standing against similar volumes—for example, the Princeton Field Guide ... For example, the latter has uniform series of facts about each of the species. Norell’s does not. However, given the fragmented nature of paleontological evidence, Norell’s tactic is a bit more conservative. He presents the actual evidence, the fossils themselves in photographic representation. Then he rarely provides estimates for weight (size more frequently) because such data would be highly speculative. While this may disappoint the imagination, it soothes the understanding.
One fascinating reflection in the last few pages: if birds are dinosaurs, then the adaptations that we so fetishize for their advantages to flight—adaptations that are frequently common to dinosaurs (heart and lungs functioning, bone structure, feathers) end up not leading necessarily to flight, as we are wont to conclude. Instead, it’s the case that flight is the unnecessary feature—it’s an accident of evolution, not a natural telos.
One fascinating reflection in the last few pages: if birds are dinosaurs, then the adaptations that we so fetishize for their advantages to flight—adaptations that are frequently common to dinosaurs (heart and lungs functioning, bone structure, feathers) end up not leading necessarily to flight, as we are wont to conclude. Instead, it’s the case that flight is the unnecessary feature—it’s an accident of evolution, not a natural telos.
April 30, 2024
Very good large format, recent book on dinosaurs. Great for kids and adults. Very representative of what is in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City (which is where I bought it). Only issue I have with the book (other than it is just about dinosaurs and not other fossils) is that I was hoping it would have the detailed "clades" (sort of family trees of related dinosaurs) organized in a useful fashion. The museum has partial clades on its displays, but nothing you can really climb through other than one or two steps up or down. Nonetheless, a very nice book, good pictures and history and some of the dino pictures DO show their feathers!
November 26, 2020
A very nice overview of what's going on in the world of dinosaur studies these days. Great photo, many from the collection on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. It was a walk down memory lane for me, where as a child l first saw and fell in love with dinosaur bones. If you can't get there to see it in person, this book is the next best thing.
February 5, 2020
More detailed than my 5 year old needs, but she enjoyed the book. We'll come back and revisit it in a few years if she's still as engrossed with dinosaurs as she is now.
Another dinosaur book that we'll need to come back to when she's older is the Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs.
Another dinosaur book that we'll need to come back to when she's older is the Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs.
March 9, 2020
Detailed. But it seems so much more has been left out.
August 25, 2020
This is a must read for anyone interested in dinosaur paleontology, paleoecology, biology, and their relation to birds plus their extinction. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
March 15, 2021
Libro muy actualizado, con unas fantásticas fotografías y buenas descripciones. Muy recomendable.
April 5, 2021
Excellent book! I would rate this 4.5 because of the presence of several typos.
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January 20, 2022567.9 N834 2019
January 5, 2024
Livro muito bom!
March 15, 2023
A good book that highlights a handful of species that show the width and breadth of dinosaur diversity. Lots of pictures and data. While it seems to mostly look at therepods, it still does cover the major dinosaur group. A nice blend of data and images in a great dinosaur book for an adult audience.
October 15, 2024
The phylogenetic format at its best ( www.amazon.com/review/R3R6KZA4VWB8E6/... ): 5/5
Most natural histories of dinos have a chronological or day-in-the-life format. This makes sense given that they're the easiest & best ways to tell the story of dinos, respectively. However, a few have a phylogenetic format, including Norell's "The World of Dinosaurs: An Illustrated Tour" (henceforth TW). The most similar example to TW I can think of is Barrett's "National Geographic Dinosaurs": For 1, they're both for casual readers; For another, they're both collections of ~50 dino profiles. In this review, I list the 3 main reasons why TW is so much better than most of the other examples.*
1) TW was published by 1 of the best natural history museums, the American Museum of Natural History (& thus, is extra high-quality/authoritative). I can't overstate the importance of books like TW (in conjunction with museum websites) to people like me (who can't visit those museums in person).
2) TW is more well-illustrated: Not only is TW full of great photos & drawings of fossils, but also great life reconstructions based on said fossils; Those by Mick Ellison & PNSO are especially note-worthy for obvious reasons (E.g. See Chuang/Yang's "THEM: Age Of Dinosaurs", another great natural history of dinos for casual readers); 1 of my only gripes is that some of the life reconstructions are a bit shrink-wrapped &/or have too many claws (E.g. The Mononykus on the front cover & the Styracosaurus on the back cover, respectively).**
3) TW's dino profiles are more complete & in-depth: For 1, TW doesn't profile just any dinos, but ~50 of the AMNH's most well-represented dinos; For another, not only are the dinos arranged in order of when their sub-groups evolved (E.g. "Theropoda" begins with Coelophysis, a primitive meat-eater, & ends with Gastornis, a modern-style bird), but each dino is put in perspective ecologically & with its relatives (E.g. See the Norell quote); In other words, TW puts the AMNH's dinos into an evolutionary & ecological context, making it feel both personal & broad at the same time.
*Only Fastovsky/Weishampel's textbook is similarly great or better: https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/jou...
**My other gripe is a few weird bits in the writing (E.g. "These include[...]very un-crocodile-looking primitive crocodiles"). Otherwise, TW is very well-written, as you can see in the Norell quote.
Quoting Norell: "The specimen consists of a Velociraptor mongoliensis entangled with a Protoceratops andrewsi specimen. Protoceratops (see p.190) is an herbivorous dinosaur, and as an adult would have been about the size of a large pig. It was probably the ecological equivalent of the sheep that are predated on by wolves in Mongolia's rural ecosystem today. Because of the nature of preservation in these beds (see Citipati, p.100), there is strong evidence that they were buried alive. What is preserved in this instance is an adult Velociraptor seemingly in combat with a Protoceratops. The large raptorial claw is embedded in an area that would have covered the important blood vessels feeding the head of Protoceratops. Velociraptor's right arm is in its mouth, and the hand with its sharp talons is tearing the face while the forearm is being crushed. Without doubt this is the smoking gun of a predation event that happened about 80 million years ago.
Velociraptor has several characteristics that provide evidence of its close affinity to birds. It has a wishbone (see p.227), large hollow air sinuses in its skull, a swivel wrist, an S-shaped neck, and three primary toes on the foot that all face forward."
Most natural histories of dinos have a chronological or day-in-the-life format. This makes sense given that they're the easiest & best ways to tell the story of dinos, respectively. However, a few have a phylogenetic format, including Norell's "The World of Dinosaurs: An Illustrated Tour" (henceforth TW). The most similar example to TW I can think of is Barrett's "National Geographic Dinosaurs": For 1, they're both for casual readers; For another, they're both collections of ~50 dino profiles. In this review, I list the 3 main reasons why TW is so much better than most of the other examples.*
1) TW was published by 1 of the best natural history museums, the American Museum of Natural History (& thus, is extra high-quality/authoritative). I can't overstate the importance of books like TW (in conjunction with museum websites) to people like me (who can't visit those museums in person).
2) TW is more well-illustrated: Not only is TW full of great photos & drawings of fossils, but also great life reconstructions based on said fossils; Those by Mick Ellison & PNSO are especially note-worthy for obvious reasons (E.g. See Chuang/Yang's "THEM: Age Of Dinosaurs", another great natural history of dinos for casual readers); 1 of my only gripes is that some of the life reconstructions are a bit shrink-wrapped &/or have too many claws (E.g. The Mononykus on the front cover & the Styracosaurus on the back cover, respectively).**
3) TW's dino profiles are more complete & in-depth: For 1, TW doesn't profile just any dinos, but ~50 of the AMNH's most well-represented dinos; For another, not only are the dinos arranged in order of when their sub-groups evolved (E.g. "Theropoda" begins with Coelophysis, a primitive meat-eater, & ends with Gastornis, a modern-style bird), but each dino is put in perspective ecologically & with its relatives (E.g. See the Norell quote); In other words, TW puts the AMNH's dinos into an evolutionary & ecological context, making it feel both personal & broad at the same time.
*Only Fastovsky/Weishampel's textbook is similarly great or better: https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/jou...
**My other gripe is a few weird bits in the writing (E.g. "These include[...]very un-crocodile-looking primitive crocodiles"). Otherwise, TW is very well-written, as you can see in the Norell quote.
Quoting Norell: "The specimen consists of a Velociraptor mongoliensis entangled with a Protoceratops andrewsi specimen. Protoceratops (see p.190) is an herbivorous dinosaur, and as an adult would have been about the size of a large pig. It was probably the ecological equivalent of the sheep that are predated on by wolves in Mongolia's rural ecosystem today. Because of the nature of preservation in these beds (see Citipati, p.100), there is strong evidence that they were buried alive. What is preserved in this instance is an adult Velociraptor seemingly in combat with a Protoceratops. The large raptorial claw is embedded in an area that would have covered the important blood vessels feeding the head of Protoceratops. Velociraptor's right arm is in its mouth, and the hand with its sharp talons is tearing the face while the forearm is being crushed. Without doubt this is the smoking gun of a predation event that happened about 80 million years ago.
Velociraptor has several characteristics that provide evidence of its close affinity to birds. It has a wishbone (see p.227), large hollow air sinuses in its skull, a swivel wrist, an S-shaped neck, and three primary toes on the foot that all face forward."
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews