Dinosaurs: A Concise Natural History - Softcover

Fastovsky, David E.; Weishampel, David B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521282373 ISBN 13: 9780521282376

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2012

Synopsis

Updated with the material that instructors want, Dinosaurs continues to make science exciting and understandable to non-science majors through its narrative of scientific concepts rather than endless facts. It now contains new material on pterosaurs, an expanded section on the evolution of the dinosaurs and new photographs to help students engage with geology, natural history and evolution. The authors ground the text in the language of modern evolutionary biology, phylogenetic systematics, and teach students to examine the paleontology of dinosaurs exactly as the professionals in the field do using these methods to reconstruct dinosaur relationships. Beautifully illustrated, lively and engaging, this edition continues to encourage students to ask questions and assess data critically, enabling them to think like a scientist.

About this title

Book Description:

Dinosaurs continues to make science exciting and understandable to non-science majors through its emphasis on scientific concepts rather than endless facts. New material includes coverage of pterosaurs and more on the early evolution of dinosaurs. Beautifully illustrated, lively and engaging, it encourages students to ask questions and think like a scientist.

About the Author:

David E. Fastovsky is Professor of Geology at the University of Rhode Island and tutor at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. His interest in dinosaurs began in his early years when he read about a paleontologist's adventures in the Gobi Desert early in the twentieth century. Dinosaurs won out years later when he had the tough decision of choosing between a career in music or paleontology, and he has had many of his own adventures in far-flung parts of the world. He is known as a dynamic teacher as well as a respected researcher with a focus on the environments in which dinosaurs roamed. When dinosaur fossils are found he is called on to reconstruct the place where they lived. He has made several television documentary appearances, and was presented with the Distinguished Service Award by the Geological Society of America in 2006.

David B. Weishampel is professor in the Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution at The Johns Hopkins University. His research focuses on dinosaur evolution and how dinosaurs function and he is particularly interested in herbivorous dinosaurs and the dinosaur record of Europe. Among his many publications he is senior editor of The Dinosauria and has contributed to a number of popular publications including acting as consultant to Michael Crichton in the writing of The Lost World, the inspiration for Steven Spielberg's film Jurassic Park.

John Sibbick has been creating illustrations of extinct life forms and their environments for over twenty years, producing numerous books on dinosaurs, as well as pterosaurs, and general books on prehistoric life. His work has appeared in scientific magazines, such as National Geographic, and in television documentaries and museums world-wide.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0521282373
• ISBN 13: 9780521282376
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 424
• Illustrator: Sibbick John