 |
| As far as I know, this is the most recent NHD book as of 8/7/17: https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/51637647?wid=520&hei=520&fmt=pjpeg |
When I think of what natural history means, I think of the Geils/Vogler quote below. A Natural History of Dinos (henceforth NHD) is the best kind of non-encyclopedic dino book. There are 2 main reasons for why I think that is: 1) It's "designed to be read from start to finish as the developing story of a remarkable group of animals...[in a] direct, clear written style" ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Natural-History-Museum-Book-Dinosaurs/dp/184442183X ); See Weimberg's "What's the Best Way to Talk about Science?" ( https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/whats-the-best-way-to-talk-about-science/ ) for why it's important that popular dino books are designed that way; 2) It puts dinos into an evolutionary & ecological context; See "Item Mentality and Dinosaurs in Popular Science" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpJjOwKh6RY ) & "Alternatives to the Item Mentality in Dinosaur Books and Art" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkAXXUCjYHs ) for why it's important that popular dino books do that. Yes, I have a Bachelor of Science in "Natural History and Interpretation" ( http://blogevolved.blogspot.com/2013/03/introducing-hadiazmy-1st-listmania-list.html ) & thus am very biased. That said, NHD books are mostly very good to great & I wanna know about all of them, hence this post. All the NHD books I know about are listed below. If there are any books you think should be listed, please let me know. Many thanks in advance. 2 more things of note: 1) No children's WWD books, only adult WWD books; 2) When trying to identify NHD books, look for a combination of the following or similar phrases:
-"a [adjective] look at"
-"a safari through time"
-"a trip to the Mesozoic"
-"as living animals"
-"dinosaur history"
-"evolution and ecology"
-"how they lived"
-"in a [adjective] context"
-"in the context of"
-"places them in"
-"the dinosaur story"
-"their evolution and extinction"
-"their history"
-"their natural habitat"
-"their natural environment"
-"their rise and fall"
-"their story"
-"their world"
-"time and space"
-"who they were"
Quoting Geils/Vogler (See "A Natural History Perspective": https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_p063/rmrs_p063_210_217.pdf ): "The term history in natural history derives from the Greek for inquiry or knowing. A natural history is a description of one kind of organism in its natural environment. It is a narrative on the development, behavior, relationships, evolution, and significance of a subject organism. We are inspired by Charles Darwin and E. O. Wilson. Their work demonstrates that natural history is not just for charismatic species, but also for ‘lowly’ barnacles and ants. Natural history unites biology and philosophy. What we perceive depends on how we observe and integrate that observation into an operational model of reality (see Hawking and Mlodinow 2010). What we perceive determines what we accept as true, beautiful, and right—therefore, what motivates our action."Colbert's "The Dinosaur Book: The Ruling Reptiles and Their Relatives" ( https://archive.org/details/dinosauruli13colb )
Watson's "Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Reptiles" ( https://paleoaerie.org/2013/11/26/its-big-its-golden-and-its-dinosaurs/ )
Halstead's "The Evolution and Ecology of the Dinosaurs"
Moody's "A Natural History of Dinosaurs"
Tweedie's "The World of Dinosaurs" (See "Key Features" under "About this product": https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/The-World-of-Dinosaurs-by-Michael-W-F-Tweedie-Hardback-1977/89888062?iid=352124426006 )
Charig's "A New Look at the Dinosaurs" ( https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/naish-and-barretts-dinosaurs-how-they-lived-and-evolved/ )
McLoughlin's "Archosauria: A New Look at the Old Dinosaur" ( https://marswillsendnomore.wordpress.com/2011/09/16/archosauria-a-new-look-at-the-old-dinosaur/ )
Sattler's "Dinosaurs of North America" ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2267190.Dinosaurs_of_North_America )
Colbert's "Dinosaurs: An Illustrated History" (See the back cover: http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/49916-1/Main+Dino+Books+rear.jpg )
Waldrop/Loomis' "Ranger Rick's Dinosaur Book" ("A magazine published ten times a year containing stories, photographs, riddles, games, and crossword puzzles relating to natural history": https://books.google.com/books/about/Ranger_Rick_s_Nature_Magazine.html?id=xvNJAAAAYAAJ )
Norman's "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" (See "About this Item": https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=676254730 )
Wexo's "Zoobooks - Dinosaurs" ("Zoobooks...both natural history and the environment": https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=%22Zoobooks+and+Dolphin%22 )
Zallinger's "Dinosaurs and Other Archosaurs" (See "Overview": https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dinosaurs-and-other-archosaurs-peter-zallinger/1000158456 )
Bakker's "The Dinosaur Heresies: New Theories Unlocking the Mystery of the Dinosaurs and Their Extinction" ( http://cloggie.org/books/dinosaur-heresies.html )
Wallace's "The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaur"
Elting's "The Big Golden Book of Dinosaurs" ("Part of the Golden Book series dealing with natural history for young people": https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=%22Elting%2C+Mary%2C+1988%2C%22 )
Man's "The Natural History of the Dinosaur"/"The Day of the Dinosaur"
Dixon's "The Big Book of Dinosaurs: A Natural History of the Prehistoric World"
Russell's "An Odyssey in Time: The Dinosaurs of North America" (See "About this book": https://www.nhbs.com/an-odyssey-in-time-the-dinosaurs-of-north-america-book?bkfno=17435 )
Kricher's "Peterson First Guide to Dinosaurs" ("A Guide to Field Guides: Identifying the Natural History of North America": https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=%22to+Dinosaurs%2C+723%22 )
Gaffney's "Dinosaurs" ("A Guide to Field Guides: Identifying the Natural History of North America": https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=%22715.+Gaffney%2C+Eugene%22 )
Czerkas/Czerkas' "Dinosaurs: A Global View" ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dinosaurs-Global-Sylvia-J-Czerkas/dp/1850280509 )
Norman's "Dinosaur!" ("The book was based on the television series of the same name, and examines the natural history of the dinosaurs, what they ate, where they lived and why they died": https://www.biblio.com/book/dinosaur-norman-david/d/431441993 )
Michard's "Reign of the Dinosaurs" (See "Key Features" under "About this product": https://www.ebay.com/p/Reign-of-the-Dinosaurs-by-Jean-Guy-Michard-I-Mark-Paris-Paperback-1992/89717900 )
Wallace's "Familiar Dinosaurs" ("A Guide to Field Guides: Identifying the Natural History of North America": https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=%22Familiar+Dinosaurs%2C+731%22 )
Lessem's "Dinosaur Worlds" ( http://westnoblemiddle.mysurpass.net/websafari.exe/detail?sid=E7BC76EF-2CAF-4370-A100-3F5527DE3A2F&database=westnoblemiddle&list=R&rec=5&marc=11377 )
Haines' "Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History"
Martill/Naish's "Walking with Dinosaurs: The Evidence - How Did They Know That?"
Benton's "Walking With Dinosaurs: Fascinating Facts"
Colagrande/Felder's "In the Presence of Dinosaurs" (See "About this book": http://www.nhbs.com/title/109299/in-the-presence-of-dinosaurs )
Stout's "The New Dinosaurs"/"The Dinosaurs: A Fantastic New View of a Lost Era" (See the back cover: http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/49916-1/Main+Dino+Books+rear.jpg )
Barrett's "Dinosaurs: A Natural History"/"National Geographic Dinosaurs"
Gee/Rey's "A Field Guide to Dinosaurs: The Essential Handbook for Travelers in the Mesozoic" ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC261880/ )
Gardom/Milner's "The Natural History Museum Book of Dinosaurs"
Brusatte/Benton's "Dinosaurs" (See "Key Features" under "About this product": http://www.ebay.com/p/Dinosaurs-by-Michael-Benton-Steve-Brusatte-Hardback-2008/95523642?_trksid=p2047675.m4099.l9056#ProductDetails )
Brusatte's "Field Guide to Dinosaurs" (To quote Reed J. Richmond, "This is a slimmed down version of the huge coffee table book that Brusatte did earlier (titled "Dinosaurs")")
Sampson's "Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life" ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7048639-dinosaur-odyssey )
Scott's "Planet Dinosaur" ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Planet-Dinosaur-Natural-History-BBC-x/dp/1849900930 )
Bakker's "The Big Golden Book of Dinosaurs" ( https://paleoaerie.org/2013/11/26/its-big-its-golden-and-its-dinosaurs/ )
DeCourten's "Dinosaurs Of Utah" ( https://muse.jhu.edu/book/41386 )
White's "Dinosaur Hunter: The Ultimate Guide to the Biggest Game" (See "My thoughts": https://prehistoricpulp.com/2017/08/05/dinosaur-hunter-by-steve-white-2015/ )
Chuang/Yang's "THEM: Age Of Dinosaurs" (See "Product Key Features" under "About this product": https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/PNSO-Them-Age-of-Dinosaurs-Book/9009516086 )
Brusatte's "Day of the Dinosaurs: Step into a spectacular prehistoric world" (See "Children's Books and other Popular Books": https://sites.google.com/site/brusatte/home/stephen-brusatte-science-writing )
Kuether's "The Amazing World of Dinosaurs: An Illustrated Journey Through the Mesozoic Era" (See "Key Features" under "About this product": https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/The-Amazing-World-of-Dinosaurs-An-Illustrated-Journey-Through-the-Mesozoic-Era-by-James-Kuether/232639747 )
Naish/Barrett's "Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved"
Paul's "The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs"/"Dinosaurs: A Field Guide" ( https://press.princeton.edu/birds/w2field.html )
Fastovsky/Weishampel's "Dinosaurs: A Concise Natural History"/"The Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs"
Brusatte's "The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: The Untold Story of a Lost World"/"The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World"