Best Paleontology

Dinosaurs Are Forever A pictorial history of paleoart. It was 1830 when an English scientist named Henry De la Beche painted the first piece of paleoart, a dazzling, deliciously macabre vision of prehistoric reptiles battling underwater. “One of the most extraordinary and beautiful volumes on the topic yet conceived.” ( The Economist 1843, London ).

Of course, the ever-popular and endlessly intriguing dinosaurs feature large, but Prehistoric Life gives you the whole picture, and the plants, invertebrates, amphibians, birds, reptiles, and mammals that are the ancestors of today's species also populate its pages, making this book unprecedented in its coverage of prehistory. Condensing millions of years of life on earth into a 512-page single-volume encyclopedia, this ambitious work presents earth’s history from its formation through the Mesolithic period (Middle Stone Age). Divided into three sections, Prehistoric Life begins with a brief look at “Young Earth.” Two-page spreads examine topics such as plate tectonics, fossils, and the geological timescale. Visitors to a natural history museum could not explore the number of examples contained here.

Now extensively revised and expanded Covers nearly 750 dinosaur species, including scores of newly discovered ones Provides startling new perspectives on the famed Brontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Features nearly 700 color and black-and-white drawings and figures, including life studies, scenic views, and skull and muscle drawings Includes color paleo-distribution maps and a color time line Describes anatomy, physiology, locomotion, reproduction, and growth of dinosaurs, as well as the origin of birds and the extinction of nonavian dinosaurs. Honorable Mention for the 2010 PROSE Award in Single Volume Reference/Science, Association of American Publishers. "Mr. Paul's book takes up the task of bringing readers up to date with the current view of these animals, adding a spate of new species that have popped up since its initial publication in 2010. . [This book shows] the unexpected variety that life is capable of and raise[s] the question of what the next 235 million years will bring." "You'll never need to decide whether that massive beast lumbering through your front yard is Chasmosaurus belli or C. sternbergi , but if you did, this would be a handy book to have on your windowsill. "Artist and researcher Gregory S. Paul describes hundreds of dinosaur species in this richly illustrated compendium. Learn how beasts ranging from Allosaurus to zuniceratops grew, moved and reproduced--and how they eventually went extinct." Indeed, Paul is to be credited for pulling so much information together into one volume, as well as for illustrating so many skeletons (some dinosaurs no doubt discovered while the book was in press.)". "The publication of Gregory Paul's The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs is cause for celebration for all who share a fascination with this diverse family of animals. introduction summarizing the history of dinosaurs research, evolution, biology, energetics, behavior, and distribution. The species are presented in phylogenic order and meticulously and beautifully illustrated following the current state of our knowledge of posture and shape." Incorporating the latest discoveries and research that are radically transforming what we know about dinosaurs, this book is distinguished both by its scientific accuracy and the quality and quantity of its illustrations. "Lavishly filled with fossil forms and drawn interpretations of their outward appearance, the guide covers the entire spectrum of dinosaur species. The color images of some of the rock stars of the Age of Dinosaurs, from T-Rex to Triceratops, will enthrall any youngster with a yen for these ancient beasts. Paul has revitalized and re-invented the depiction of dinosaurs in recent decades, and the book brings the breadth of their lost world to today's readers." The first 60 pages of the book provide an introduction to dinosaur biology, morphology and techniques for studying these fossils.

Prothero’s discussion of intelligent design arguments includes more historical examples and careful examination of the “experiments” and observations that are exploited by creationists seeking to undermine sound science education. By concentrating the diverse scientific literature into numerous lucid examples, Donald R. Prothero does the fields of geology, biology, and science education a major service. He provides a unique source that will be invaluable to college professors and high school teachers alike, and because his book provides abundant, clearly described examples of evolution in the fossil record, and also synthesizes important information about the Bible, it will make a valuable addition to any scientist’s library.

The most comprehensive book on pterosaurs ever published Features some 200 illustrations, including original paintings by the author Covers every known species and major group of pterosaurs Describes pterosaur anatomy, ecology, behaviors, diversity, and more Encourages further study with 500 references to primary pterosaur literature. Witton manages to make this an attractive book for the layperson and bring these flying fossils to life." "Witton's new tribute to pterosaurs gives these fantastic fossil creatures a much-needed makeover in two crucial ways. Not only does the book bring the science of pterosaurs up to date--at long last following-up other classics such as David Unwin's The Pterosaurs and Peter Wellenhofer's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs --but Witton is a highly-skilled and imaginative artist who ably reconstructs the bones of the animals and brings them back to life in startling poses. Witton's pterosaurs are fantastical creatures deserving their own time in the spotlight. Witton's combination of style and substance makes Pterosaurs a true treasure and an absolute must for anyone curious about the extinct flyers." "This really is the ultimate guide to pterosaurs, providing us with a richer view of pterosaur diversity and behaviour than allowed in the two previous great volumes on the group (Wellnhofer 1991, Unwin 2005) and containing a substantial amount of review and analysis of pterosaur ecology and functional morphology." His 292-page book is the most comprehensive and authoritative book to come along since Peter Wellnhofer's classic Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs back in 1991." "The joy of Pterosaurs is how it brings long extinct animals to life."

Now extensively revised and expanded Covers nearly 750 dinosaur species, including scores of newly discovered ones Provides startling new perspectives on the famed Brontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Features nearly 700 color and black-and-white drawings and figures, including life studies, scenic views, and skull and muscle drawings Includes color paleo-distribution maps and a color time line Describes anatomy, physiology, locomotion, reproduction, and growth of dinosaurs, as well as the origin of birds and the extinction of nonavian dinosaurs. Honorable Mention for the 2010 PROSE Award in Single Volume Reference/Science, Association of American Publishers. "Mr. Paul's book takes up the task of bringing readers up to date with the current view of these animals, adding a spate of new species that have popped up since its initial publication in 2010. . [This book shows] the unexpected variety that life is capable of and raise[s] the question of what the next 235 million years will bring." "You'll never need to decide whether that massive beast lumbering through your front yard is Chasmosaurus belli or C. sternbergi , but if you did, this would be a handy book to have on your windowsill. "Artist and researcher Gregory S. Paul describes hundreds of dinosaur species in this richly illustrated compendium. Learn how beasts ranging from Allosaurus to zuniceratops grew, moved and reproduced--and how they eventually went extinct." Indeed, Paul is to be credited for pulling so much information together into one volume, as well as for illustrating so many skeletons (some dinosaurs no doubt discovered while the book was in press.)". "The publication of Gregory Paul's The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs is cause for celebration for all who share a fascination with this diverse family of animals. introduction summarizing the history of dinosaurs research, evolution, biology, energetics, behavior, and distribution. The species are presented in phylogenic order and meticulously and beautifully illustrated following the current state of our knowledge of posture and shape." Incorporating the latest discoveries and research that are radically transforming what we know about dinosaurs, this book is distinguished both by its scientific accuracy and the quality and quantity of its illustrations. "Lavishly filled with fossil forms and drawn interpretations of their outward appearance, the guide covers the entire spectrum of dinosaur species. The color images of some of the rock stars of the Age of Dinosaurs, from T-Rex to Triceratops, will enthrall any youngster with a yen for these ancient beasts. Paul has revitalized and re-invented the depiction of dinosaurs in recent decades, and the book brings the breadth of their lost world to today's readers." The first 60 pages of the book provide an introduction to dinosaur biology, morphology and techniques for studying these fossils.

In Darwin’s Doubt , Stephen C. Meyer tells the story of the mystery surrounding this explosion of animal life—a mystery that has intensified, not only because the expected ancestors of these animals have not been found, but because scientists have learned more about what it takes to construct an animal. ''It's hard for us paleontologists to admit that neo-Darwinian explanations for the Cambrian explosion have failed miserably....Meyer describes the dimensions of the problem with clarity and precision. '' Darwin's Doubt is by far the most up-to-date, accurate, and comprehensive review of the evidence from all relevant scientific fields that I have encountered in more than forty years of studying the Cambrian explosion.''. --Dr. Russell Carlson, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Georgia and technical director of the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center. --Dr. Norman C. Nevin OBE, BSc, MD, FRCPath, FFPH, FRCPE, FRCP; Professor Emeritus in Medical Genetics, Queen's University, Belfast. ''Stephen Meyer's new book, Darwin's Doubt , is a fascinating and rigorous study demonstrating not only that biologists and paleontologists do not have an adequate explanation for the Cambrian Explosion, but that there is an alternative view that makes more sense.''. ''Meyer is a talented writer with an easygoing voice who has blended interesting history with clear explanations in what may come to be seen as a classic presentation of this most fundamental of all debates.''. In what is known today as the "Cambrian explosion," many animals suddenly appeared in the fossil record 530 million years ago without apparent ancestors in earlier layers of rock.

The lush and unique photography in this book represents National Geographic's Photo Ark, a major initiative and lifelong project by photographer Joel Sartore to make portraits of the world's animals—especially those that are endangered. He has written several books including National Geographic's Rare: Portraits of America's Endangered Species , Photographing Your Family , and Let's Be Reasonable , a collection of essays from the CBS Sunday Morning show.

A major book about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes Over the last half-billion years, there have been Five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Ms. Kolbert shows in these pages that she can write with elegiac poetry about the vanishing creatures of this planet, but the real power of her book resides in the hard science and historical context she delivers here, documenting the mounting losses that human beings are leaving in their wake.” ― The New York Times. “Natural scientists posit that there have been five extinction events in the Earth's history (think of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs), and Kolbert makes a compelling case that human activity is leading to the sixth.” ― Bill Gates. “[Kolbert] grounds her stories in rigorous science and memorable characters past and present, building a case that a mass extinction is underway, whether we want to admit it or not.” ― Discover Magazine. “The factoids Kolbert tosses off about nature's incredible variety--a frog that carries eggs in its stomach and gives birth through its mouth, a wood stork that cools off by defecating on its own legs--makes it heartbreakingly clear, without any heavy-handed sermonizing from the author, just how much we lose when an animal goes extinct. In the same way, her intrepid reporting from far-off places--Panama, Iceland, Italy, Scotland, Peru, the Amazonian rain forest of Brazil, and the remote one tree Island, off the coast of Australia--gives us a sense of the earth's vastness and beauty.” ― Bookforum. “Kolbert accomplishes an amazing feat in her latest book, which superbly blends the depressing facts associated with rampant species extinctions and impending ecosystem collapse with stellar writing to produce a text that is accessible, witty, scientifically accurate, and impossible to put down.” ― Publishers Weekly (starred review). “Rendered with rare, resolute, and resounding clarity, Kolbert's compelling and enlightening report forthrightly addresses the most significant topic of our lives.” ― Booklist (starred review). Like Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction is destined to become one of the most important and defining books of our time.” ― David Grann, author of The Lost City of Z. Her long view of extinction excited my joy in life's diversity -- even as she made me aware how many species are currently at risk.” ― Dava Sobel, author of Longitude and Galileo's Daughter. “With her usual lucid and lovely prose, Elizabeth Kolbert lays out the sad and gripping facts of our moment on earth: that we've become a geological force, driving vast swaths of creation over the brink.

Now an HBO® Film starring Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. Amazon Best Books of the Month, February 2010 : From a single, abbreviated life grew a seemingly immortal line of cells that made some of the most crucial innovations in modern science possible. Henrietta Lacks was a mother of five in Baltimore, a poor African American migrant from the tobacco farms of Virginia, who died from a cruelly aggressive cancer at the age of 30 in 1951. A sample of her cancerous tissue, taken without her knowledge or consent, as was the custom then, turned out to provide one of the holy grails of mid-century biology: human cells that could survive--even thrive--in the lab. Meanwhile, Henrietta's family continued to live in poverty and frequently poor health, and their discovery decades later of her unknowing contribution--and her cells' strange survival--left them full of pride, anger, and suspicion. Jad Abumrad is host and creator of the public radio hit Radiolab , now in its seventh season and reaching over a million people monthly. Just the simple facts are hard to believe: that in 1951, a poor black woman named Henrietta Lacks dies of cervical cancer, but pieces of the tumor that killed her--taken without her knowledge or consent--live on, first in one lab, then in hundreds, then thousands, then in giant factories churning out polio vaccines, then aboard rocket ships launched into space. The cells from this one tumor would spawn a multi-billion dollar industry and become a foundation of modern science--leading to breakthroughs in gene mapping, cloning and fertility and helping to discover how viruses work and how cancer develops (among a million other things). But what's truly remarkable about Rebecca Skloot 's book is that we also get the rest of the story, the part that could have easily remained hidden had she not spent ten years unearthing it: Who was Henrietta Lacks?

For more than 35 years, The Anatomy Coloring Book has been the #1 best-selling human anatomy coloring book! Immediately recognizing the potential of this method, Dr. Elson encouraged Kapit to do a “complete” coloring book on anatomy and offered to collaborate on the project. The first edition of The Anatomy Coloring Book was published in 1977, and its immediate success inspired the development of a completely new field of publishing: educational coloring books. In the early 1990s, Kapit wrote and designed The Geography Coloring Book, now in its second edition. This is his seventh text, having authored It’s Your Body and The Zoology Coloring Book and co-authored The Human Brain Coloring Book and The Microbiology Color. ing Book. Dr. Elson was assistant professor of anatomy at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, participated in the development of the Physician’s Assistant Program, lectured and taught dissection anatomy at the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco, and taught general anatomy, from protozoons to humans, at City College of San Francisco.

In this international bestseller, forester and author Peter Wohlleben convincingly makes the case that, yes, the forest is a social network. Peter Wohlleben spent over twenty years working for the forestry commission in Germany before leaving to put his ideas of ecology into practice.

Specially designed for experienced colorists, Owls and other Creative Haven® adult coloring books offer an escape to a world of inspiration and artistic fulfillment. Marjorie Sarnat is a New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of several coloring books and more than a dozen books on art and creativity.

In this international bestseller, forester and author Peter Wohlleben convincingly makes the case that, yes, the forest is a social network. Peter Wohlleben spent over twenty years working for the forestry commission in Germany before leaving to put his ideas of ecology into practice.

Robert O. Becker, a pioneer in the filed of regeneration and its relationship to electrical currents in living things, challenges the established mechanistic understanding of the body. Robert O. Becker, M.D., lived in upstate New York.

Robert O. Becker, a pioneer in the filed of regeneration and its relationship to electrical currents in living things, challenges the established mechanistic understanding of the body. Robert O. Becker, M.D., lived in upstate New York.

An essential addition to the gardener’s library, this colorful, fully illustrated book details the history of naming plants, provides an overview of Latin naming conventions, and offers guidelines for pronunciation. ( Martha Stewart Living ). “ Latin for Gardeners is useful, surprising, and beautiful—an accessible dictionary for everyone who puzzles over botanical identifications, an opportunity to get better acquainted with the extraordinary discoverers and namers of so many of our favorite plants, and a treat for all who enjoy the art and lore of the garden.”.