The Complete Dinosaur (Life of the Past) [ハードカバー]

Although content will require some basic knowledge of biology (and you will find refresher material here as well--remember all your bones?), the chapters are for the most part always interesting, and some reflect the unquestionable enthusiasm of the authors. One particular chapter on the use of multimedia in cataloging and exchanging dinosaur data, while seemingly irrelevant to folks who just want to know the name of a dinosaur, spoke volumes of dedication and commitment to moving dinosaur finds from museum closets into scientists hands around the world. This level of enthusiasm does not diminish through the book, making what would otherwise be a very heavy read into something of a treat.

There are two or three other dinosaur books that may be as definitive as this one, however from paging through 'The Dinosauria' and 'The Dinosaur Encyclopedia', Farlow's books seemed the most approachable/accessible, while also not shorting the reader on content.

While this and the other dinosaur books mentioned might be a bit challenging at times for readers who don't have a background in biology, geology, paleontology, etc. (IE there is a lot of prior knowledge about evolutionary theory that the reader is assumed to possess), I would still not hestitate to recommend it to someone with a passion for Dinosaurs...which should be about everyone by now, right?

This book is divided into six parts and each has chapters written by the various contributors. The parts are as follows:
Part One: The Discovery of Dinosaurs
Part Two: The Study of Dinosaurs
Part Three: The Groups of Dinosaurs
Part Four: Biology of the Dinosaurs
Part Five: Dinosaur Evolution in the Changing World of the Meszoic Era
Part Six: Dinosaurs and the Media

What I found that was very interesting was that at the end of each chapter there was extensive references. So, if you find something that piques your interest you have something else to read about, to either clarify or strengthen your viewpoint. Also, this makes the book easy to use when dealing with technical material.

This book summarizes the current knowledge about dinosaurs at the time written (1997), and currently there are only eighty professional dinosaur paleotologists in the world. This book is written like professional scientific literature, but that doesn't make it difficult to read. Reading on you will find this book is not without controversy, as vigorus disagreements among the specialists over topics of contention will be found here as they hash out these sharp divergences of opinion.

I must say, that there is some very fine artwork, with bone of skeletons, muscle structure and complete complete fleshed out dinosaurs giving the reader a full grasp of what a dinosar looks like from the inside out. Also, questions as to what dinosaurs ate, how they raised their young, and the question that was the turning point that made the movie Jurassic Park... can we isolate dinosaur DNA are just some of the many questions that have answers in this book.

All in all, the technical jargon is at a minimum and there is a glossary of terms making your reading much more fruitful. I found the narrative easy to read and the information from this book to be exceptional.