Why Dinosaurs Matter

(Hardback)

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What can long-dead dinosaurs teach us about our future Plenty, according to world-renowned paleontologist Dr Kenneth Lacovara, who has discovered some of the largest creatures to ever walk the Earth, including the super-massive Dreadnoughtus.

By tapping into the wonder that dinosaurs inspire, Dr Lacovara weaves together the stories of our geological awakening, of humanitys epic struggle to understand the nature of deep time, the meaning of fossils, and our own place on the vast and bountiful tree of life.

Go on a journey, back to when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, to discover how dinosaurs achieved feats unparalleled by any other group of animals. Learn the secrets of how paleontologists find fossils, and explore quirky, but fascinating questions, such as: Is a penguin a dinosaur How are the tiny arms of T. rex the key to its power and ferocity

In this revealing book, Dr Lacovara offers the latest ideas about the shocking and calamitous death of the dinosaurs and ties their vulnerabilities to our own.

Why Dinosaurs Matter is compelling and engaging - a reminder that our place on this planet is both precarious and potentially fleeting. As we move into an uncertain environmental future, it has never been more important to understand the past.

Reviews

This is a dinosaur book with a difference. In lyrical prose Kenneth Lacovara shows how an understanding of the past helps to understand the present. The dinosaurs played no role in the great extinction that ended their era: we, on the other hand, are playing a major part in the extinction that is taking place today. And unless we change our ways, if we continue destroying the natural world, this will lead inevitably to our own extinction. But unlike the dinosaurs we have the power to turn things around. -- Dr Jane Goodall, DBE, conservationist, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace
Kenneth Lacovara LOVES Dinosaurs, LOVES science and truly LOVES telling you about it. Few non-fiction writers wield words with more poetic and potent affection for their subject. Kens deep scholarship and clear enjoyment of his subject always makes ME feel smarter. A man obsessed not just with his subject matter, but with showing us how looking into our deep past can illuminate our future. -- Adam Savage of the Discovery Channel
'Majestic, awe-inspiring and deeply humbling.Kenneth Lacovara reveals how dinosaurs have changed how we understand time, the world and ourselves' -- Dr Alice Roberts, anatomist and anthropologist, television presenter, author and professor
'Kenneth Lacovara challenges our ideas about dinosaurs and shows how the past can shine a light on todays world. Dinosaurs, it turns out, were not lumbering, old, has-beens. They were the energetic champions of their age. This beautifully written book is simply mind-blowing. Youll never look at dinosaurs, or think about the past, in quite the same way. Bravo!' -- Dara Torres, five-time Olympic swimmer, twelve-time Olympic medallist, mother, model, TV personality, and speaker

Author Bio

Dr. Kenneth Lacovara has unearthed some of the largest dinosaurs ever to walk our planet, including the super-massiveDreadnoughtus, which at sixty-five tons weighs more than sevenT. rex. Through his work, blending exploration with the latest techniques from medicine and engineering, Lacovara portrays dinosaurs as vigorous, competent creaturesthe adaptable champions of an age. Lacovara is sought around the world for his ability to bring the wonders of science and the thrill of discovery to a wide range of audiences. Hes got a way of illuminating the bigger picture, of somehow turning why into wonder. Its not just that hes speaking about what happened way back when, but what it might mean for us today. Says Chris Anderson, Curator of TED. He has appeared in many television documentaries and his discoveries have landed him three times in Discover magazines 100 Top Science Stories of the year and in Times Top Stories of 2014. Lacovara was named by Mens Journal as one of The Next Generation of Explorers and he is an elected fellow of the prestigious Explorers Club in New York. Kenneth Lacovara is the founder and director of the Edelman Fossil Park of Rowan University in New Jersey.Why Dinosaurs Matter is his first book.