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All Yesterdays: Unique And Speculative Views Of Dinosaurs And Other Prehistoric Animals (2012)

by John Conway(Favorite Author)
4.36 of 5 Votes: 5
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English
genre
publisher
Irregular Books
review 1: I remember fondly my encyclopedia of dinosaurs -- actually, a succession of them, with increasing sophistication, that I owned over the years. Those books gleefully explained how people had thought of dinosaurs as plodding and stupid, but now realized they may have been warmblooded and fast moving. There was little hint that dinosaurs would soon be seen as close kin to birds, with many species showing evidence of feathers. All this preamble to say what a pleasure it was to read this short, light book of illustrations highlighting how real dinosaurs might have deviated from their standard depiction -- and closing with a similar treatment of modern animals, seen via fossils through some far-future lens. The illustrations are more typical of children's books than field gu... moreides, favoring imagination over precision; in contrast, the text (while deftly and elegantly written) is far beyond the reading level of most pre-teens. This makes the book's target market slightly difficult to gauge. Whoever that market is, it evidently includes me.
review 2: This is awesome. It's a little short, but it's well worth reading. The book is essentially a critique of pop culture's (and even certain scientific) constants when it comes to portraying dinosaurs, and opens up theories and suggestions for how they might have actually behaved or appeared as actual animals. Scientific fact is spread liberally throughout, but the book focuses on what we can't know about dinosaurs, such as their muscle mass, coloration, feather arrangements, behaviors, etc--and challenges the reader to open their minds to new possibilities, to give dinosaurs a more realistic edge, than to just accept whatever pop culture has to feed them. For example, many carnivorous dinosaurs are portrayed as being vicious and constantly hunting and violent, and are rarely shown as playful or restful creatures. However, modern carnivores, such as lions and wolves, are known for being social and having lives beyond just being killers, so why not portray dinosaurs that way as well? My example is very simplified--the book goes into more scientific and biological-behavioral reasoning for its suggestions, acknowledges that it might be seen as "heretical" or "silly," but just goes with it. The illustrations are simple but effective and often very inspiring. Definitely a fun and different way to look at some very interesting creatures! less
Reviews (see all)
Ambrashpendi111
A beautiful collaboration, reminiscent of the finer books of Dougal Dixon and his collaborators.
emilylua
Very plausable. Gives new character possibilites to the dinosaurs and critters. Superb artwork.
fireman333777
this book was SUPER FUN if you're into oddly shaped extinct animals....which I am.
Lori
Formatted as basically a children's picture book. Interesting nonetheless.
tae
Very interesting but much too short. Maybe best not read in e-format.
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