The next Books & Beyond discussion group meeting will be Tuesday, September 24th at 6:30pm and the topic groups are math, numbers, and number science. Fiction, nonfiction, and film are all welcome! If you'd like to attend online, register here: https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/8810338
Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind by Kermit Pattison
In Fossil Men, acclaimed journalist Kermit
Pattison brings us a cast of eccentric, obsessive scientists, including Tim White,
an uncompromising perfectionist whose virtuoso skills in the field were matched
only by his propensity for making enemies; Gen Suwa, a Japanese savant whose
deep expertise about teeth rivaled anyone on Earth; Owen Lovejoy, a onetime
creationist-turned-paleoanthropologist with radical insights into human
locomotion; Berhane Asfaw, who survived imprisonment and torture to become
Ethiopia’s most senior paleoanthropologist; Don Johanson, the discoverer of
Lucy, who had a rancorous falling out with the Ardi team; and the Leakeys, for
decades the most famous family in paleoanthropology. Based on a half-decade of
research in Africa, Europe and North America, Fossil Men is
not only a brilliant investigation into the origins of the human lineage, but
the oldest of human emotions: curiosity, jealousy, perseverance and
wonder.
Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
The year is 1876. Warring Indian tribes still populate
America's western territories, even as lawless gold-rush towns begin to mark
the landscape. In much of the country, it is still illegal to espouse
evolution. Against this backdrop two monomaniacal paleontologists pillage the
Wild West, hunting for dinosaur fossils while surveilling, deceiving, and
sabotaging each other in a rivalry that will come to be known as the Bone Wars.
Drawing on both meticulously researched history and an exuberant
imagination, Dragon Teeth is based on the rivalry between
real-life paleontologists Cope and Marsh; in William Johnson listeners will
find an inspiring hero only Michael Crichton could have imagined. Perfectly
paced and brilliantly plotted, this enormously winning adventure is destined to
become another Crichton classic.
Deadlands: Hunted by Skye Melki-Wegner (children’s middle
grade fiction)
Battle rages between the dinosaur kingdoms of Cretacea. When
the Fallen Star struck, it brought death and despair, ash and toxic rain. But
some dinosaurs survived . . . and were changed. Their minds
grew alert. They learned to speak. To dream. To wage war. As the two remaining
dinosaur kingdoms fight for territory, Eleri, the disgraced son of a prince, is
exiled from his home for saving an enemy soldier. Banished to the merciless
Deadlands, a terrifying desert full of tar pits, poisonous gas, and ruthless carnivores,
he must join forces with a group of questionable allies―including the enemy
soldier he saved―to avoid becoming prey. When Eleri and his fellow exiles
discover the horrific truth behind the war, the unlikely heroes must do all
they can to save their kingdoms from a lurking predator. . . and a secret plot
that might destroy them all.
The Rise & Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of Their Lost World by Steve Brusatte
Brusatte traces the evolution of dinosaurs from their
inauspicious start as small shadow dwellers—themselves the beneficiaries of a
mass extinction caused by volcanic eruptions at the beginning of the Triassic
period—into the dominant array of species every wide-eyed child memorizes
today, T. rex, Triceratops, Brontosaurus,
and more. This gifted scientist and writer re-creates the dinosaurs’ peak
during the Jurassic and Cretaceous, when thousands of species thrived, and
winged and feathered dinosaurs, the prehistoric ancestors of modern birds,
emerged. The story continues to the end of the Cretaceous period, when a giant
asteroid or comet struck the planet and nearly every dinosaur species (but not
all) died out, in the most extraordinary extinction event in earth’s history,
one full of lessons for today as we confront a “sixth extinction.”
After the Dinosaurs: The Age of Mammals by Donald Prothero
The fascinating group of animals called dinosaurs became
extinct some 65 million years ago (except for their feathered descendants). In
their place evolved an enormous variety of land creatures, especially mammals,
which in their way were every bit as remarkable as their Mesozoic cousins. The
Age of Mammals, the Cenozoic Era, has never had its Jurassic Park, but it was
an amazing time in earth’s history, populated by a wonderful assortment of
bizarre animals. Engaging and insightful, After the Dinosaurs is
a book for everyone who has an abiding fascination with the remarkable life of
the past.
Our Hideous Progeny by C.E. McGill
Mary is the great-niece of Victor Frankenstein. She knows
her great uncle disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the Arctic, but
she doesn’t know why or how. . . . The 1850s are a time of discovery, and
London is ablaze with the latest scientific theories and debates, especially
when a spectacular new exhibition of dinosaur sculptures opens at the Crystal
Palace. Mary is keen to make her name in this world of science alongside her
geologist husband, Henry—but despite her sharp mind and sharper tongue, without
wealth and connections their options are limited. When Mary discovers some old
family papers that allude to the shocking truth behind her great-uncle’s past,
she thinks she may have found the key to securing her and Henry’s professional
and financial future. Their quest takes them to the wilds of Scotland; to
Henry’s intriguing but reclusive sister, Maisie; and to a deadly chase with a
rival who is out to steal their secret.
The Dinosaur Artist: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Quest for Earth’s Ultimate Trophy by Paige Williams
In the tradition of The Orchid Thief, The
Dinosaur Artist is a stunning work of narrative journalism about
humans' relationship with natural history and a seemingly intractable conflict
between science and commerce. A story that stretches from Florida's Land O'
Lakes to the Gobi Desert, The Dinosaur Artist illuminates the
history of fossil collecting--a murky, sometimes risky business, populated by
eccentrics and obsessives, where the lines between poacher and hunter,
collector and smuggler, enthusiast and opportunist, can easily blur. In her
first book, Paige Williams gives readers an irresistible story that spans
continents, cultures, and millennia as she examines the question of who,
ultimately, owns the past.
Cretaceous Dawn by Lisa & Michael Graziano (Hoopla ebook only)
A long-extinct beetle appears in a physics lab.
Four-and-a-half people and a dog are hurled 65 million years through time, to
the Age of the Dinosaurs, and paleontologist Julian Whitney and his companions
have only one chance for rescue. Meanwhile in the lab, police chief Sharon
Earles must solve the mystery of why half a body remains where five people had
just been. Physicists try to determine what went wrong but can they fix the
vault in time to retrieve the missing people―and do they want to?
Meg by Steve Alten
even years ago and seven miles below the surface of the
Pacific Ocean, Dr. Jonas Taylor encountered something that changed the course
of his life. Once a Navy deep-sea submersible pilot, now a marine
paleontologist, Taylor is convinced that a remnant population of Carcharodon
megalodon―prehistoric sharks growing up to 70 feet long, that subsisted on
whales―lurks at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Offered the opportunity to
return to those crushing depths in search of the Megs, Taylor leaps at the
chance...but his quest for scientific knowledge (and personal vindication)
becomes a desperate fight for survival, when the most vicious predator the earth
has ever known is freed to once again hunt the surface.
Extinction by Douglas Preston
Erebus Resort, occupying a magnificent, hundred-thousand
acre valley deep in the Colorado Rockies, offers guests the experience of
viewing woolly mammoths, Irish Elk, and giant ground sloths in their native
habitat, brought back from extinction through the magic of genetic
manipulation. When a billionaire's son and his new wife are kidnapped and
murdered in the Erebus back country by what is assumed to be a gang of
eco-terrorists, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Frances Cash partners
with county sheriff James Colcord to track down the perpetrators. As killings
mount and the valley is evacuated, Cash and Colcord must confront an ancient,
intelligent, and malevolent presence at Erebus, bent not on resurrection―but
extinction.
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
On the windswept, fossil-strewn beaches of the English
coast, poor and uneducated Mary learns that she has a unique gift: "the
eye" to spot ammonites and other fossils no one else can see. When she
uncovers an unusual fossilized skeleton in the cliffs near her home, she sets
the religious community on edge, the townspeople to gossip, and the scientific
world alight. After enduring bitter cold, thunderstorms, and landslips, her
challenges only grow when she falls in love with an impossible man. Mary soon finds an unlikely champion in prickly Elizabeth, a middle-class
spinster who shares her passion for scouring the beaches. Their relationship
strikes a delicate balance between fierce loyalty, mutual appreciation, and
barely suppressed envy, but ultimately turns out to be their greatest
asset. From the author of At the Edge of the Orchard and Girl With a Pearl Earring comes this incredible story of two
remarkable women and their voyage of discovery.
Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party: How an Eccentric Group of Victorians Discovered Prehistoric Creatures and Accidentally Upended the World by Edward Dolnick
In Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party, celebrated
storyteller and historian Edward Dolnick leads us through a compelling true
adventure as the paleontologists of the first half of the 19th century puzzled
their way through the fossil record to create the story of dinosaurs we know
today. The tale begins with Mary Anning, a poor, uneducated woman who had a
sixth sense for finding fossils buried deep inside cliffs; and moves to a
brilliant, eccentric geologist named William Buckland, a kind of Doctor
Doolittle on a mission to eat his way through the entire animal kingdom; and
then on to Richard Owen, the most respected and the most despised scientist of
his generation. Entertaining, erudite, and featuring an unconventional cast of
characters, Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party tells the story of
how the accidental discovery of prehistoric creatures upended humanity’s
understanding of the world and their place in it, and how a group of
paleontologists worked to bring it back into focus again.
A History of the World in 100 Fossils by Paul D. Taylor
& Aaron O’Dea
This visually stunning book showcases 100 key fossils
that together illustrate the evolution of life on earth. Iconic specimens have
been selected from the renowned collections of the two premier natural history
museums in the world, the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, and the Natural
History Museum, London. The fossils have been chosen not only for their
importance in the history of life, but also because of the visual story they
tell. This coffee table book is perfect for all readers because its clear
explanations and beautiful photographs illuminate the significance of these
amazing pieces, including 500 million-year-old Burgess Shale fossils that
provide a window into early animal life in the sea, insects encapsulated by
amber, the first fossil bird Archaeopteryx, and the remains of our
own ancestors.
Beasts Before Us: The Untold Story of Mammal Origins and Evolution by Elsa Panciroli
For most of us, the story of mammal evolution starts after
the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs, but over the last 20 years
scientists have uncovered new fossils and used new technologies that have
upended this story. In Beasts Before Us, palaeontologist
Elsa Panciroli charts the emergence of the mammal lineage, Synapsida, beginning
at their murky split from the reptiles in the Carboniferous period, over three
hundred million years ago. They made the world theirs long before the rise of
dinosaurs. Travelling forward into the Permian and then Triassic periods, we
learn how our ancient mammal ancestors evolved from large hairy beasts with
accelerating metabolisms to exploit miniaturisation, which was key to unlocking
the traits that define mammals as we now know them.
Grandmother Fish: A Child’s First Book of Evolution by
Jonathan Tweet (toddler picture book, not available in the JCLC but may be requested from Interlibrary Loan)
Where did we come from? It's a simple question, but not so
simple an answer to explain―especially to young children. Charles Darwin's
theory of common descent no longer needs to be a scientific mystery to
inquisitive young readers. Meet Grandmother Fish. Told in an
engaging call and response text where a child can wiggle like a fish or hoot
like an ape and brought to life by vibrant artwork, Grandmother
Fish takes children and adults through the history of life on our
planet and explains how we are all connected.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
The Bone Wars, also known as the Great Dinosaur Rush, was a period of intense and ruthlessly competitive fossil hunting and discovery during the Gilded Age of American history, marked by a heated rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope (of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia) and Othniel Charles Marsh (of the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale). Each of the two paleontologists used underhanded methods to try to outdo the other in the field, resorting to bribery, theft, and the destruction of bones. Each scientist also sought to ruin his rival's reputation and cut off his funding, using attacks in scientific publications. Learn more by listening to this 27-minute episode of the BBC 4 podcast, Science Stories.
Arctic Dinosaurs (PBS NOVA)
Most people imagine dinosaurs lurking in warm locales with
swamps and jungles, dining on vegetation and each other. But "Arctic
Dinosaurs" reveals that many species also thrived in the harsh
environments of the north and south polar regions. NOVA follows two high-stakes
expeditions and the paleontologists who push the limits of science to unearth
70 million-year-old fossils buried in the vast Alaskan tundra.
The hardy scientists shadowed in "Arctic
Dinosaurs" persevere because they are driven by a compelling riddle: How
did dinosaurs—long believed to be cold-blooded animals—endure the bleak polar
environment and navigate in near-total darkness during the long winter months?
Did they migrate over hundreds of miles of rough terrain like modern-day herds
of caribou in search of food? Or did they enter a dormant state of hibernation,
like bears? Could they have been warm-blooded, like birds and mammals? Top
researchers from Texas, Australia, and the United Kingdom converge on the
freezing tundra to unearth some startling new answers.
- In 2013, Paige Williams wrote an article in the New Yorker about
Erik Prokopi, one of the subjects of her book listed earlier, The Dinosaur Artist.
A year later, she penned a
follow-up article. I’m including an excerpt of
each below
. If you would like to read the entirety of one or both articles, I can get you a copy...just call or email me!
1/20/2013 Bones of Contention
After a German sea-lily fossil sold to a live bidder, for forty thousand dollars, Greg Rohan, Heritage’s president, who had been standing near the lectern, handed the auctioneer a note. The auctioneer announced, “The sale of this next lot will be contingent upon a satisfactory resolution of a court proceeding.” He was talking about the dinosaur, which he called the auction’s “signature item.” Largely intact dinosaur skeletons are not easily found, and this specimen had been advertised as seventy-five per cent complete. “It can fit in all rooms ten feet high,” the auctioneer added. “So it’s also a great decorative piece.”
As the bidding opened, at eight hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, Robert Painter, an attorney from Houston, stood up, a BlackBerry in his hand. Painter is six feet three and forty-two, with dark hair, rimless eyeglasses, and a deep voice. “I hate to interrupt this,” he told the room. “But I have the judge on the phone.” The previous day, Carlos Cortez—a state district judge in Dallas, where Heritage has its headquarters—had signed a temporary restraining order forbidding the company to auction the T. bataar, on the ground that the dinosaur was believed to have been stolen from Mongolia. The judge, defied, was not pleased.
6/7/2014 The Black Market for Dinosaurs
Facing a possible seventeen years in prison, Prokopi started talking. In the seventeen months since he pleaded guilty, he has helped to widen the U.S. investigation into fossil smuggling, providing details about specific specimens, dates, and locations. “There is probably not an active fossil investigation at this point that doesn’t owe, on some level, to information that Mr. Prokopi has furnished law enforcement,” Martin Bell, an assistant U.S. Attorney, told the U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein last week, when Prokopi returned to the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan for sentencing. The case has pushed federal authorities to get their “act together” with respect to “the policing of this admittedly obscure area,” Bell said, adding, “The government’s only recently realizing the contours of that black market, and what it is.”
Prokopi’s cooperation with authorities has led to the recovery and repatriation of not only the T. bataar but also other Mongolian fossils—enough to populate a new dinosaur museum in Ulaanbaatar. In court on Tuesday, Bell reported that “over eighteen largely complete, if not fully prepped, dinosaur fossils will be returned as a result, indirectly or directly, of Mr. Prokopi’s information, to Mongolia, a country which is not only enthusiastic about the possibility of dinosaur tourism based solely on the haul from this case but which badly seems to need it.” The returned specimens included “a second Tyrannosaurus skeleton; a dinosaur called an oviraptor, which is an egg-eating thing,” Bell said. “I think a number of them stampeded in the 1996 movie ‘Jurassic Park.’ It might have been 1992. I was young and awestruck in any event, Your Honor.”
“I missed the movie,” the judge said. “Maybe I should go back to see it.”
Title descriptions pulled from Amazon, Bone War information
pulled from Wikipedia, excerpts from the work of Paige Williams pulled from The
New Yorker online archives.
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