THE COMPLETE DINOSAUR

[Tetanurae@aol.com]

I have just recieved my copy of THE COMPLETE DINOSAUR edited by Jim Farlow
and Mike Brett-Surman in the mail (well, tuesday actually).  I have since had
time to review the book more than I did at SVP (and without a salesperson
hovering over me), and all I can say is VERY GOOD (and that's not just
because the two editors and a lot of the authors are on the list :-).

The chapters on the dinosaur groups are of course very good, and quite a bit
more informative than some other recent volumes, and of course are written by
quite the experts in the field -- people I would have immediately have chosen
for the appropriate topics (ie McIntosh and the editors on sauropods, Galton
on stegosaurs, Carpenter on Ankylosaurs etc).  In addition to those wonderful
chapters, there is a section detailing historical dinosaur studies and
discoveries.  In fact, one of my favorite photos in the book is of the
Polish-Mongolian team (all 20 or so of them) out in the hot Gobi sun.  It
gives personality to the past, people I had only known by their writing and
references, now had faces and smiles.

I digress....  There are also chapters on dinosaur biology, even some that
oppose eachother (thermal biology etc), classification principles, and even
one on ancient biomolecules.  Additionally, the artwork is superb (which is
sometimes hit or miss these days...), and the scientific illustrations are
amazing and not just the same tired old ones (another pic of T rex.....)...

I see that the word THAGOMIZER is also used in the books glossary, thus
introducing it as a valid scientific term :-)

So yes, before I babble on even longer....  Goof job Jim and Mike.
 Congratulations!

Peter Buchholz
Tetanurae@aol.com

Patrick Duffy?  Damnit Cartman!  That's not funny.
What do you mean?  Have you ever seen "Step By Step"?