Why Dinosaurs Matter

Kenneth Lacovara

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781471164439
• eBook ISBN: 9781471164446
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

What can long-dead dinosaurs teach us about our future? Plenty, according to world-renowned paleontologist and recent star of BBC show The Day the Dinosaurs Died Dr Kenneth Lacovara, who has discovered some of the largest creatures to ever walk the Earth, including the super-massive Dreadnoughtus. ' Majestic, awe-inspiring and deeply humbling. Kenneth Lacovara reveals how dinosaurs have changed how we understand time, the world and ourselves' DR ALICE ROBERTS, anatomist and anthropologist, television presenter, author and professor ' This is a dinosaur book with a difference. In lyrical prose Kenneth Lacovara shows how an understanding of the past helps to understand the present. The dinosaurs played no role in the great extinction that ended their era: we, on the other hand, are playing a major part in the extinction that is taking place today. And unless we change our ways, if we continue destroying the natural world, this will lead inevitably to our own extinction. But unlike the dinosaurs we have the power to turn things around.' DRJANE GOODALL, DBE, conservationist, founder of the Jane Goodaal Institute and UN Messenger of Peace 'Kenneth Lacovara LOVES Dinosaurs, LOVES science and truly LOVES telling you about it. Few non-fiction writers wield words with more poetic and potent affection for their subject. Ken's deep scholarship and clear enjoyment of his subject always makes ME feel smarter. A man obsessed not just with his subject matter, but with showing us how looking into our deep past can illuminate our future.' ADAM SAVAGE of THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL
By tapping into the wonder that dinosaurs inspire, Dr Lacovara weaves together the stories of our geological awakening, of humanity's epic struggle to understand the nature of deep time, the meaning of fossils, and our own place on the vast and bountiful tree of life. Go on a journey, back to when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, to discover how dinosaurs achieved feats unparalleled by any other group of animals. Learn the secrets of how paleontologists find fossils, and explore quirky, but fascinating questions, such as: Is a penguin a dinosaur?How are the tiny arms of T. rex the key to its power and ferocity? In this revealing book, Dr Lacovara offers the latest ideas about the shocking and calamitous death of the dinosaurs and ties their vulnerabilities to our own. Why Dinosaurs Matter is compelling and engaging - areminder that our place on this planet is both precarious and potentially fleeting.As we move into an uncertain environmental future, it has never been more important to understand the past.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Chapter 1 In Defense of Dinosaurs
• Chapter 2 Is a Penguin a Dinosaur?
• Chapter 3 Walking Museum of Natural History
• Chapter 4 Fossils Underfoot
• Chapter 5 Deep Time
• Chapter 6 Thunderclaps
• Chapter 7 Making Sense of Monsters
• Chapter 8 The King
• Chapter 9 Champions
• Chapter 10 Dreadnoughtus
• Chapter 11 Dinosaur Apocalypse
• Chapter 12 Why Dinosaurs Matter
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Notes
• Copyright