Rate this book

How To Build A Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn't Have To Be Forever (2009)

by Jack Horner(Favorite Author)

3.72 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0525951040 (ISBN13: 9780525951049)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Dutton Adult

review 1: The biggest problem with this book is that Horner didn't really have enough material to fill a whole book, so he padded it. For example, he spent 40 pages of a 230 page book going over the geography and history of Eastern Montana from the time of the dinosaurs, through the first arrival of man, and down to the current day. That said, the last hundred pages or so are interesting. The true subject of the book is however not really on how to build a dinosaur. That's just the hook. It's really about how scientists are now applying molecular biology techniques to the study of macroevolution.
review 2: Jack Horner wants to take a chicken embryo and fidget with regulator genes in such a way that the chicken grows teeth, a long tail, and clawed forearms instead of wing... mores; that is, he wants to make a non-avian dinosaur. This book tells you why and how it might work, why Horner thinks we should do it, and why it wouldn't result in a terrifying apocalypse. It's an intriguing idea and it's exciting to learn about the kind of research that has been and is being done that might make it a reality. The book is engagingly written (although there are some embarrassing editorial mistakes) and it makes me want to know more about the pursuit of "chickenosaurus." Ethically, I don't support harmful and/or lethal animal experiments, which this would necessarily entail, but I'm fascinated nevertheless. less

Download links for: How to Build a Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn't Have to Be Forever

Advertising