Re: Tyrannosaur book review

[MKIRKALDY@aol.com]

Posted for Steve  Brusatte.
______________

I'm a bit surprised about some of the  comments about my tyrannosaur volume 
book review. I have no issue with Greg  Paul's comments and the only 
disagreement between us is about writing style and  the types of papers that we 
like seeing published in symposium volumes. I'm  puzzled, though, about the 
perception that I am opposed to popular writing and  scientific outreach. I 
have written three popular books and for many years have  volunteered to write 
columns for amateur/avocational magazines such as Fossil  News and 
Prehistoric Times. I see this as important, valuable, and a duty of  
scientists, and 
I applaud Greg Paul and others who have also spent time, which  could 
otherwise be spent on research, writing for a popular audience. My gripe,  
which 
I expressed in my book review, is that I do not think this type of writing  
is ideal for a symposium volume, published by a university press. The 
Indiana  University Press tyrannosaur volume has been marketed as a collection 
of  
research papers, of the same tone and quality of those published in 
academic  journals, highlighting the latest cutting-edge research on 
tyrannosaurs. 
There  are some fine pieces of work in the book, but interspersed are other 
chapters  written in a very informal style that seem obviously out of place. 
I am confused  as to how this comment has been interpreted as a knock 
against scientists  writing for a lay audience, which is something I have 
committed much time to for  many years.

Cheers,
Steve B.

-- 
Stephen Brusatte,  MSc
American Museum of Natural History
Columbia University, New  York
http://sites.google.com/site/brusatte/
brusatte AT gmail.com  
--