Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway: An Epoch Tale of a Scientist and an Artist on the Ultimate 5,000-Mile Paleo Road Trip

(Paperback, Second Edition, 2nd Edition)

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"A paleontological odyssey that manages to be informative, witty, educationaland enormous fun." Simon Winchester, author ofThe Map That Changed the World,Krakatoa,andA Crack in the Edge of the World

An epoch tale of a scientist and an artist on the ultimate 5,000-mile paleo road trip.

Cruisin' the Fossil Freewayfollows the most unusual travels of a paleontologist and an artist as they drive across the American West in search of fossils. Throughout their journey, they encounter "paleonerds" like themselves, people dedicated to finding everything from suburbanT. rexto killer Eocene pigs to ancient fossilized forests. This updated editions brings the text up-to-date on new discoveries, new realizations, and new places, along with new art.

A fascinating travelogue,Cruisin' the Fossil Freewayshows us that fossils are everywhere if you learn to look for themeven at 65 miles per hour.

Reviews

No onenot even Steven Spielbergcan explain the magic of the Jurassic as cleverly and comprehensively as America's current Master of the Mesozoic, Kirk Johnson. Now, together with the magnificently eccentric fossil-artists Ray Troll, Kirk reports on a paleontological odyssey that manages to be informative, witty, educationaland enormous fun."Simon Winchester, author ofThe Map That Changed the World,Krakatoa,andA Crack in the Edge of the World "By the time you finish this book, you will know more about dinosaurs, trilobites, and ammonites than you ever wanted to, and you'll never even realize that you were learning all this great stuff."Richard Ellis, American Museum of Natural History research associate and author ofThe Empty Ocean "Johnson relates the stories of the great discoveries in paleontology and peoples them with a rogues' gallery of parched academics and mercenary treasure hunters. In the end, the reader is holding the strangest, most delightful of textsan adventure story, a memoir, a handbook, a history, a guide. And a refreshing sense that the boisterous Earth is resilient and enduring."Peter Heller, author ofHell or High WaterandThe Whale Warriors

Author Bio

Kirk R. Johnson is a paleobotanist and the Sant Director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He is the host of two recent PBS series, Making North Americaand The Great Yellowstone Thaw.He has written ten books including Prehistoric Journey,Cruisin' The Fossil Coastline,and Ancient Wyoming.Ray Troll is an artist who has illustrated ten books, including Cruisin' the Fossil Coastline,Sharkabet, Rapture of the Deep,and Planet Ocean.He and his wife, Michelle, own and operate the Soho Coho Gallery inKetchikan, Alaska.