The World of Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs occupy a special place in our culture. They are not only the subject of exciting and important discovery in science; they are extraordinarily alluring to masses of people, young and old. The American Museum of Natural History in New York, where the author of this book, the well-known dinosaur paleontologist Dr Mark Norell, works, bears testament to this fact, as it annually greets over 5 million visitors, many of whom, as Mark points out, simply call it the “dinosaur museum”. Why are dinosaurs so popular? This is perhaps the most frequent question asked of paleontologists like me, one almost certain to arise on numerous occasions, whether at a press event, an educational conference, a holiday gathering of extended family, or a cocktail party. In his introduction, Mark ventures an answer: these spectacular creatures inspire and, at the same time, challenge our imagination. They are (often) gigantic and extreme in ways unpredicted by our experience in the living world. And their fossil remains tell us that an ancient world so alien to our own is not a fantasy, but a reality.