Even so, I loved his writing style. He was funny, light-hearted and used creative metaphors and clever wording. One area of focus is that where these latter discoveries coupled with developments in science and technology that has helped speed forward, challenge and adapt knowledge of the dinosaurs and how they lived and evolved during their lengthy tenure on Earth. Nowhere more so is this shown that in the understanding that dinosaurs had forms of feathers, were colourful in some cases and were fatally, in most cases, impacted by the meteor/comet strike that ended their reign. There is a fascinating chapter on birds and how they evolved from their ancestors. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is his eighth book and is rather adequately described as an adult pop science book, which makes it easy to digest. There are no references within the main text for the reader, but at the end of the book there are notes on the sources Brusatte used for each chapter. See, for example: Catchpoole, D., Dino ‘puberty blues’ for palaeontologists, creation.com/dino-puberty-blues, 15 Jun 2010. Return to text.

My review of Brusatte’s newest book, The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us, is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Dinosaurs die out / take flight?

There is an inherent difficulty in crafting a nonfiction narrative about dinosaurs. That difficulty stems from the fact that they lived and died so long ago it boggles the imagination. Brusatte nimbly overcomes this obstacle by employing two storylines simultaneously.

The book begins with a colorful description of what the world must have been like in the Permian period, transitioning into the Triassic, where dinosaurs were (contrary to previous belief) bit players, and this is a strong way to open, because it ties in with those side-stories about paleontology, and here we begin to see some discussion on the changing views about dinosaurs and how paleontologists can indeed be mistaken about their findings. It continues on from there. Readers of this book who are willing to and interested in learning about these topics will find this to be an excellent place to begin learning about dinosaurs and paleontology, and those already in the know will likely enjoy it as a refresher course. At a time when Homo sapiens has existed for less than 200,000 years and we are already talking about planetary extinction, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is a timely reminder of what humans can learn from the magnificent creatures who ruled the earth before us. That said, I was disappointed that I really didn't learn much because I couldn't understand what he was saying. Maybe it was me. Maybe not. I almost felt like I was missing something. Like, I had missed a class or seminar or previous book.The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs' is an excellent introduction to Dinosaurs for general readers. The book has lots of drawings and photographs illustrating a very high-spirited and picturesque narrative describing the evolutionary history and daily lives of dinosaurs through the three periods of Time (maybe 235 million years ago until 66 million years ago) when the original dinosaurs existed, walked about and ate each other (if they weren't the vegetarian ones). Of course, birds, which are dinosaurs in disguise (my words) in their evolved state, still exist, so, many of us, including me, basically breakfast 🐣on dinosaurs 🦖 eggs every day 😁. Steve Brusatte (b. 1984) is a rising star in the world of palaeontology and dinosaurs (figure 1). He was born in the USA, but is now Reader (the second highest rank of lecturer) in Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Edinburgh. He has discovered many new species of fossil vertebrate. Thus, he is often looked to for some relevant quote when a new discovery in his field of expertise is found.