Adult wanting to learn more about Dinosaurs

February 20, 2017 6:41 AM

Can any suggest a good book or reference material for an adult looking to learn more about Dinosaurs? I have searched Amazon.com and most materials are designed for children.

As a male in his 40s, I recently have been wanting to learn more about dinosaurs. I obviously don't want to become an expert or anything, and I have done some Google searches etc, but I am wondering if there are any good resources out there for adults wanting to read (learn) more about dinosaurs. I thought about looking for textbooks, but that might be too dry from what I am looking for. Amazon has many books on dinosaurs, but I would like something not aimed at children (however, I wouldn't be opposed to a nice visual book as well).

Anyone have any thoughts/suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

posted by dbirchum to Education (11 answers total)

First thought - is there an Oxford U Press Very Short Introduction on this? Yes. I'd start there.
posted by thelonius at 6:46 AM on February 20, 2017 [2 favorites]

My Beloved Brontosaurus is exactly what you want.
posted by meghosaurus at 6:55 AM on February 20, 2017 [3 favorites]

It's not an overview or primer, but All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals is completely fascinating and funny and thought-provoking.

It's "an illustrated survey of possibilities and details we might be overlooking in contemporary reconstructions of extinct animals. In two parts, we examine speculative possibilities that may not have been preserved in the fossil record, and muse on what future palaeontologists may think when reconstructing animals that live today."

Here's a writeup about it from Scientific American's blog.
posted by ITheCosmos at 7:06 AM on February 20, 2017

The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs is a lovely hardback; it's a textbook, so a mote drier than a couple of suggestions upthread, but it's illustrated and interesting of itself.
posted by Vortisaur at 7:38 AM on February 20, 2017 [3 favorites]

This is an overview book packed with great visual stuff, and aimed, I would say, from middle school kids to adults, and I would recommend it to adults definitely: Dinosaur!. If you got this and the Oxford U. Press introduction book, I think you could get a pretty good handle on stuff.
posted by gudrun at 8:10 AM on February 20, 2017

Seconding My Beloved Brontosaurus. I also recommend The Dinosaur Heresies by Robert Bakker, which lays forward evidence for some of the newer theories around dinosaurs (namely, that they were warm-blooded and closely related to birds) in a way that's clear and easy to understand.
posted by thedarksideofprocyon at 9:33 AM on February 20, 2017 [1 favorite]

I enjoyed Stephen J. Gould's "Dinosaur in a Haystack". And his "Wonderful Life" is about the time period twice as far back as Dinosaur times, but fascinating animals and a great read.
posted by at at 3:36 PM on February 20, 2017 [1 favorite]

Dinosaurs: How they Lived and Evolved is exactly what you want. It's written by the awesome Darren Naish.

It covers the entire field as currently understood, including the 10,000 living species.
posted by Combat Wombat at 4:34 PM on February 20, 2017 [1 favorite]

The University of Alberta's Dino 101 course on Coursera is ridiculously detailed and good, but may be more than you're looking for.
posted by cholly at 7:34 PM on February 20, 2017

Depending on what interests you about dinosaurs, you might like W. J. T. Mitchell's The Last Dinosaur.
posted by dizziest at 10:46 AM on February 22, 2017

Indiana University Press do a book series, Life of the Past, which aims to publish "first hand, accurate, up to date information about prehistoric life for the intelligent lay reader." There are a number of dinosaur-centred titles in the series, many based on specific digs.
posted by Sonny Jim at 12:35 PM on February 25, 2017