Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs

However, I think this book is a bit too technical for the basal concepts it describes; the style *The Complete Dinosaur* is, I think, more approprite.


Finally, up to date information on dinosaurs!   September 16, 1998
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We've all read the bylines: the public loves dinosaurs. And it's true. But we're also not all that discriminating. As a result, many dinosaur books are very out of date. The Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs is a notable exception to this. Each topic is written not only by a paleontologist, but by a dinosaur paleontologist who specializes in that particular subject. The result? A compendium of information that could otherwise be obtained only by attending perfessional meetings for years. And of course, at professional meetings technical laguage is the norm. Anyone want to decipher "the relevance of the arctometatarsilian pes to the phylogenetic analysis of coelurosaurian theropods"..? The Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs is written plainly and clearly. Any interested adult or teenager could master the knowledge within much easier than, say, highschool algerbra. As a student of paleontology, and someone who has attended numerous professional meetings, I can say with confidence that this book will equip any aspiring paleontologist with the knowledge needed to reach the "next leve" of understanding of the dinosaurs.


plenty of information but not for the jargon-shy reader   September 5, 1998
some facts: dimensions 1.57 x 11.22 x 8.82 inch actually, printed on acid-free paper and made to last, containing 275 articles averaging to 3 pages per article, typically 1 to 4 pages. Apart from the normal table of contents there is a.o. a thematic t.o.c. and a glossary with definitions of 600 specialized terms for the benefit of the general reader. Every article has an extensive reference section to facilitate further reading on the subject. The articles themselves are rather scientific, if you can hack this sentence from page 1 ''... both taxa share maxillae with subvertical ascending rami and cervical vertebrae with hypertrophied epipophyses ...'' then this book is for you. Every 'difficult' word is contained in the glossary, but that still doesn't make it good bedtime reading, even more so because I do not find the book heavily illustrated. The illustrations are mostly b&w drawings, diagrams or photographs, with only a few pages of full color photographs or art-work, I estimate that more than half of the pages have no illustration at all.