Customer Reviews:
Fun reading with your little person.......2007-09-12
This book is great to read again and again--detailed pictures and lots of information make it interesting to come back to. Since it is not a story, but collections of facts and pictures with detailed illustrations that make up a search game, you can breeze through it or spend hours depending on how much time you have. Good for little ones, who can talk to you about the pictures, and older ones who can read it independently.
Amazon.com
If you're of a certain age, you likely went through a dinosaur phase as a kid, perhaps even dreaming of turning up the bones of stegosauruses, tyrannosauruses, and other famed creatures of the Age of Reptiles. In this affectionate memoir of "a life in the field," paleontologist Michael Novacek writes of his early years entertaining such dreams and of his ongoing education in the ways of the "terrible lizards."
Now curator of paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, Novacek has traveled the world on the trail of fossils and ancient bones, collecting thousands on thousands of specimens. Often, we gather from his pages, his expeditions have been fraught with danger, whether in the form of some exotic disease or some incautious driver on a faraway road. No matter: for Novacek, the thrill of the hunt is reason enough to shrug off peril, and he shares charming anecdotes drawn from his decades of fieldwork, as well as his understanding of what such research can teach us about the past and present alike.
Armchair travelers and paleontologists in training, to say nothing of readers going through a dinosaur phase of their own, will take much pleasure in Novacek's journeys into his--and the planet's--past. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
“A superb introduction to paleontology as it really is and how it is done, from fish to dinosaur, bird, and mammal.” —Edward O. Wilson
Michael Novacek, a renowned paleontologist who has discovered important fossils on virtually every continent, is an authority on patterns of evolution and on the relationships among extinct and extant organisms. Time Traveler is his captivating account of how his boyhood enthusiasm for dinosaurs became a lifelong commitment to vanguard science. Novacek writes of the alluring perils of fieldwork with affection and discernment, and he illuminates the most exciting issues in paleontology today.
Download Description
A world-reknowned paleontologist illuminates some of the most exciting issues in current paleontology while teaching us how to understand our global ecosystem and its future prospects.
Customer Reviews:
fascinating and well written.......2004-12-16
My freshman year in college, I decided to indulge my interest in dinosaurs and earth history by taking a *rocks for jocks* geology class. It was fascinating. I learned (and sadly haven't really retained) all kinds of info on rock formations, evolution, and paleontology. When I read the excerpts of this book a few months ago, I noted the author and bought the book when it came out. Novacek is a world famous paleontologist who takes us on a journey of his past field work and interweaves that with info on the animals whose bones he uncovers along with the geology of the sites he's worked. He also throws in some hilarious stories of adventures in fossil hunting that make me quite happy to stay home and leave the actual travels to him.
"Time Traveler illuminates some of the most exciting issues in current paleontology-- dinosaur and mammal evolution, continental drift, mass extinctions, and new methods for understanding ancient environments and the geologic time scale. By revisiting our planet's past and his own, Novacek teaches us how to understand the prospects for the future not only of paleontology but of our global ecosystem."
I will say that if you only have a glancing interest in this type of material, this book would probably bore you to tears but if it's something that intrigues you, you might find it as fascinating as I did.
A life in the field..........2004-02-08
Michael Novacek must be a very interesting person, judging from "Time Traveller," which he describes as "a book not about a life, but about a life in the field." Starting from his childhood in California, he relates the story of his start as a young paleontologist (moving from a background as an indifferent student and an unsuccessful rock musician) working in the American West and Baja California. Most of the digs take place in unpleasant locations, fraught with heat, scorpions and dreadful food. As he moves up the academic ladder, the digs become much more exotic and he heads out to Patagonia (where it is cold and windy instead of hot and accidents with horses can happen, but the food is still of varying quality), then to Yemen (where there are not even any interesting fossils to make up for the sheer awfulness of the place), Mongolia and Argentina. It appears that extreme physical fitness is a prerequisite for those wishing to enter this profession.
The major fault of the book is that it appears to be written backwards. The last chapters, focussing on the extremely important discoveries made in the 1990s in Mongolia, are fascinating and move quickly. They appear to come from another, and better, book. When he writes of the importance of palaeontology and the fossil record, his prose is powerful and almost poetic. But the earlier chapters seem to meander, a collection of anecdotes about his childhood, working in the field, a bit of this and a bit of that. One has the impression that Dr. Novacek is a bit of a scatterbrain, unable to focus his attention--Looky! Old rocks! Insectivore jaws! Bikini babes! Look! Fossil fish! Ancient teeth! Yemeni bandits! Look! Picturesque Chileans! That Roy Chapman Andrews-what a guy! Hey, look! We've been in Mongolia for ten years!
The chapter on Yemen is particularly odd. It describes in great detail all the problems involved in working in this near-medieval country, the dangers and the heat, but the only scientific finding is that there is really not much there to interest a paleontologist. Nonetheless, in the next chapter he writes about possibly putting together another expedition to go back, until he is distracted by Mongolia. Is this a thirst for derring-do, in the style of Andrews?
His attempt to write "popular science" often feels clumsy but cannot hide the fact that many of his discoveries are significant and have contributed to many serious scientific debates. I particularly liked his writing about how the Mongolian dinosaurs may have died. Originally accepting the idea that they were buried in soft sand, he carefully describes recent work by geologists that suggests instead that heavy rains resulted in mudslides that caught the animals in the gullies where they lived. It is clearly and elegantly expressed and ultimately helps make this book worth reading. It probably would be a better book with less rock-smashing and more such thoughtful analysis.
"A personal attachment to rocks and bones".......2003-08-06
Novacek's "attachment" for lithics and fossil evidence has led him to remote places. Raised in the urban sprawl of Los Angeles, he was introduced to the wild, quickly finding excuses to return. Paleontology is easily the best excuse available for travel and exploration. He invites us to join him as he tours the North American West - into mountains, canyons and plateaus where fossils have emerged before. From this familiar territory he goes on to more exotic sites. His explorations reach from Andean highlands through Arabia deserts to the mysterious Mongolian plateaus. It was the latter that gave Novacek the greatest rewards and kept him occupied for more than a decade. This autobiography of a professional paleontologist provides interesting insights into the researchers depicting the prehistoric realm.
Before the rewards came the trials. The first was the decision to take up paleontology when a music career dangled enticing rewards. His father was a competent guitarist. A chance to learn field work offered new opportunities and challenges. Fresh creek water proved polluted leading to "highly volatile" digestive tracts. In the Andes, Novecek's horse bolted with one boot caught in a stirrup. Walking was impossible and riding little better. Desert scorpions and rattlesnakes were added threats. In Yemen, it was overzealous military staff. The hazards of scrambling over cliff faces seeking fossil or fording rain-swollen rivers recede as serious threats and become part of daily expedition fare.
All these mishaps failed to quell his desire to travel. The travel wasn't entertainment, but his quest for fossils. The search wasn't always rewarding, but the promise or the need kept him going. His misadventure in the Andes was off-set by a string of rewarding finds. Glorious to behold and thrilling to experience, the Andes are now considered the fastest rising mountains in the world. Fossils that had no business being at the altitudes Novacek's team encountered show how rapidly the mountains have been constructed by plate tectonics.
This mix of life experiences and scientific endeavour is richly enhanced by the graphics sprinkled through the text. Some of the most interesting are diagrams of fossil assemblages as found in situ. These provide a good indication of the complexities of retrieval and reassembly. His maps are a bit spare, but give the general location of campsites and fossil finds. Security, an issue of increasing concern in Mongolia, demands no more detail than necessary. Some photos of the campsites themselves might have personalised the account. His bibliography verges on the bizarre, being a mix of scholastic papers and general accounts. Some of these are worth pursuing. The knowledgeable will applaud his inclusion of John McPhee [although one volume is inexplicably omitted]. Novacek is forthright in his account of the tribulations of this career, but depicts as vividly the many rewards paleontology has to offer. As he concludes in this fine account: "there's still so much to know". [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
A magnificent memoir from a revered scientist........2002-12-30
This book is a must-read for any aspiring paleontologist. Novacek's clarity is unparalled in science narrative. He tells his stories in the same lively manner that you would expect to hear from an old friend around a camp fire. You feel as if you are on expedition with Novacek himself.
Unlike many accomplished scientists who are not professors (Novacek is with the American Museum of Natural History, not a university), he is able to pontificate in a relevant manner for the scientist and the lay-person alike.
This book is less about dinosaurs and more about being a dinosaur hunter. If this perspective interests you, you can't beat this book.
Most shocking, is the fluid and crisp prose with which you are engaged. Career writers and authors should envy Novacek's writing abilities. I recently finished _Prey_, a novel by Michael Crichton, and its writing was inferior to Novacek's. This alone should earn him a nomination for one of the yearly science-writing awards.
Time Traveler.......2002-11-16
Time Traveler: In Search of Dinosaurs and Ancient Mammals from Montana to Mongolia writter by Michael Novacek is a book very much like an autobiography in nature. But, the nature we're talking about here is past history... that of dinosaurs and early mammals... those of the fossil record.
The author has a very easy going writting style that grips you and you are engaged till the end. This story is very much like a travel log of a dedicated paleontologist discovering fossils where ever he seems to travel. The author started early out in life looking for fossils in Los Angeles, not too far from the La Brea Tar Pits, when just a child. But the dinosaur fever never left his veins as he is now a world-renowned paleontologist and has found fossils on every continent.
This book is a study in the Natural History of fossil hunting, having illustrations where needed gives the reader a sense of perspective as to what the author is talking about. In fact the illustrations pop-up right when you need them, reinforcing the reader. Some of the most current and exciting issues in paleontology today are dinosaur and mammal evolution, continent drift, and mass extinctions. This book helps in the clarification of these questions making the reader understand the ancient enviornments and the geological times scale.
From the past to our future this book ties the two together. Making the reader understand the past and how it can be applied to the future so we do not make the same mistakes, that is a global ecosystem. This book is a fast and easy read as the narrative flows freely keeping your interest. If you like adventure, with some travel to different locations throughout the world, this is your book. From California, to Baja Mexico, high up in the Andes Mountains in Chile, to the volcanic mountains of Yemem, to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia you are taken on a travel log of a very special nature... one of a fossil hunting paleontologist.
Customer Reviews:
The search for dinosaurs (time machine 2).......2000-04-28
This book is great. It is about you, as a time traveller. As with all the time machine series, you have to choose between several options as you travel back in time to the age of the dinosaurs. Your choise provides your destiny, can you complete the mission, or, as the publishers so well put it, "are you ready to face the danger?".
Average customer rating:
- Teacher's friend...
- Glad I found it!
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Dinosaur Word Search
John Chaneski
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Young dino lovers will happily sink their teeth into these 33 super-saurus word searches. Not only will they learn all about Iguanodon, T-Rex, Pteranodon, Brachiosaurus, Eoraptor, Trilobites, Velociraptor, and more, but kids will give their language skills a fun workout as well. Every dinosaur gets an information-filled paragraph with specific words capitalized; these become the terms to look for in the grid. The facts include when each creature lived, where its fossils were found, its length and habitat, what it ate, and how to pronounce its name. Children will have a great time word—and dinosaur—hunting.
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Customer Reviews:
Teacher's friend..........2006-02-25
I love word searches for my students. This one has the advantage of containing some science and also teaches vocabulary.
Glad I found it!.......2004-11-30
Great book. This is a cool kind of find-a-word: instead of a word list the words to find are in BOLD inside really interesting paragraphs about dinosaurs. I really like it! I hope the writer does more books like this. Lists are so boring! This is really fun!
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Customer Reviews:
I remember reading this often..........2004-09-28
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Customer Reviews:
Digging Dinosaurs.......2003-01-30
Digging Dinosaurs written by John R. Horner et.al. is a book that covers the search that unraveled the mystery of baby dinosaurs. Honer has dedication, insight, and a sharp eye, but good luck is always nice to have when searching for the past in Western Montana on the Eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
At the time of writing this book Horner had spent six years digging at Egg Mountain and the surrounding area. His finds are rocking the knowledge base for nestings, babies and herd research.Whether you like to read about dinosaurs or are a dinosaur buff, reding this book gives you an appreciation for being a paleontologist. Also, you get to read about and see how they reexamine their venerable theeories.
The remarkable discoveries found in this book are interesting and they are advancing new hypotheses about dinosaur behavior and ecology... also, how did dinosaurs interact between species is new ground covered within these pages. Clever detective work while uncovering the past bodes well for future knowledge obtained.
Some of that knowledge coming from this large find of dinosaur remains is that duckbills probably moved like birds, with their heads bobbing forward and back. They did not look like the dinosaurs that have their tails dragging on the ground; the tails of most dinosaurs, not only duckbilld but also the sauropods,were held out straight behind them. The duckbills' tails were reinforced by rigid, ossified tendons that we can still see in many fossil skeletons.
Bipedal dinosaurs were built the same way, when a duckbill walked it bobbed its neck to get a fluid gait. Duckbills lived in herds and one of their major defenses against predators was their running ability, herding instinct, and a solid kick with the hind legs.
Reading this book was a delight as the narrative was engrossing and kept my interest. Horner has a easy-going style that will captivate the reader and the next thing you know you've reached the end and you what to know more about these denizens of the past. An interesting book that questions conventional interpretations, making for an enjoyable, educational read.
Dinosaur egg hunt.......1999-03-06
Digging Dinosaurs, by John Horner, is a firsthand account of the discovery of fossilized Dinosaur eggs that led to extensive discoveries of nesting sites in Montana. The book describes the geology of the area, the discovery of the nesting sites, their excavation, and the changes in paleontology that ensued. The book was made all the more fascinating by the fact that you can visit the actual site, called egg mountain. The Museum of the Rockies, in Choteau, Montana sponsors tours. On a recent trip to Montana, my wife and I took the tour and met John Horner, digging up more dinosaurs.
Book Description
"White Blaze Fever," a true life adventure that embraces the reader as a "hiking partner" in pursuit of the 2-inch by 6-inch white blazes from Springer Mountain, Georgia, to Mt. Katahdin, Maine.
A must read for both the arm chair adventures and the stalwart hikers who not only enjoy reading hiking adventure, but are also looking for specific information on hiking the Appalachian Trail. Over one hundred informative and essential "Hiker Tips" have been infused for hiker assistance.
Through daily journal entries the vicarious hiking partner will share encounters with bear, moose, snakes and other wildlife. The reader will feel the thrill of viewing the most magnificent vistas east of the Mississippi and come to know a unique collection of individuals guaranteed to bring a smile to your face and warmth to your heart.
Customer Reviews:
Kind of a drag.......2006-08-14
Remarkably poorly written. This book is a cry for help from a professional editor. Other reviewers call it "realistic" - I really hope hiking the AT isn't anywhere near as monotonous as this book.
Too many exclamation points.......2006-05-30
I brought this book along with me on a backpacking trip. It doesn't seem fair that such a poor writer was able to come out with a book. Damn Bryson. But it gets better. Not only does the guy write like Mr. Rogers, but his "tips" are comicial. Worse than anything they put in a 'dummies' book. This is a typical entry from the guy:
Quote:
I walked out of the shelter and boy it was raining! It was raining very hard! I saw some day hikers and they said it was wet. I came back with "Glad we got rain jackets!
HIKER TIP:
I brought a lightweight, breathable rain jacket. This kept me dry and allowed me to breathe!
Fantastic Journal.......2005-11-01
This daily journal of Bill Schuette's walk of the Appalachian Trail gave me a good feeling that I was on the trail. I loved every bit of it. This is one of the better journals I've read. He gives a great look inside the life of a thru-hiker which includes the towns, places, animals, and social aspects of the hike. This is a great book that let's you understand just one journeys taken on the Appalachian Trail.
Good info for aspiring hikers, but hard to read and too wordy.......2005-10-12
As someone said above, if you are looking for a Bill Bryson caliber book, this is not for you.
As an aspiring AT thru-hiker, the day-to-day journal style taught me quite a bit about what the daily grind would be like. However, the prose and the grammar just about killed me on every page. Exclamation points are used like salt, and dull, pointless paragraphs are prodigiously used to essentially say, "I hiked all day." There was essentially no ending - even the obvious climax of ascending Mt. Katahdin is glossed over. No personal information is given, and although this might have been an intentional point by the author, it makes a lot of his adventures vague and boring - instead of knowing *who* is hiking, all we know is, as mentioned above, that he is an aging educator that enjoys hiking. And has a daughter that enjoys hiking, too.
That being said, if you are truly aspiring to thru-hike the AT, this book has some useful information. However, I would pass on it as casual reading - the "gee-whiz" style is just too saccharin.
Realistic Portrayal of an A.T. Thru-Hike.......2005-05-19
Like the author, I also thru-hiked the A.T. in 2000, and while my experiences differed from his in many respects, I really enjoyed this book and had difficulty putting it down. Many of his descriptions of towns, shelters, and the general trail experience really brought back memories - it's a realistic portrayal of Mr. Schuette's experience. Your experience will probably be different, should you hike the trail yourself, but there would certainly be a lot of overlap with the portrayals in this book.
Part of my personal enjoyment of this book certainly stemed from the fact that I also met many of the other thru-hikers mentioned, having started and finished the trail at roughly the same time as the author. An A.T. thru-hike often delineates distinct chapters in a hiker's life, such as graduation, career change, divorce, retirement, etc., and hearing these stories were really fascinating for me. However, be warned that this book doesn't touch on such issues - it's essentially a day-to-day log which covers the nitty-gritty of milage, resupply, trail towns, etc.
Having said that, if you read this book and find it hard to put down, then you probably have White Blaze Fever and may as well get out there and hike your own hike.
That test alone should justify your investment in this book.
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