Greenhouse of the dinosaurs : evolution, extinction, and the future of our planet / Donald R. Prothero.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Donald R. Prothero's science books combine leading research with first-person narratives of discovery, injecting warmth and familiarity into a profession that has much to offer nonspecialists. Bringing his trademark style and wit to an increasingly relevant subject of concern, Prothero links the climate changes that have occurred over the past 200 million years to their effects on plants and animals. In particular, he contrasts the extinctions that ended the Cretaceous period, which wiped out the dinosaurs, with those of the later Eocene and Oligocene epochs.

Prothero begins with the "greenhouse of the dinosaurs," the global-warming episode that dominated the Age of Dinosaurs and the early Age of Mammals. He describes the remarkable creatures that once populated the earth and draws on his experiences collecting fossils in the Big Badlands of South Dakota to sketch their world. Prothero then discusses the growth of the first Antarctic glaciers, which marked the Eocene-Oligocene transition, and shares his own anecdotes of excavations and controversies among colleagues that have shaped our understanding of the contemporary and prehistoric world.

The volume concludes with observations about Nisqually Glacier and other locations that show how global warming is happening much quicker than previously predicted, irrevocably changing the balance of the earth's thermostat. Engaging scientists and general readers alike, Greenhouse of the Dinosaurs connects events across thousands of millennia to make clear the human threat to natural climate change.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Prothero, a prolific paleontologist (From Greenhouse to Icehouse) at Occidental College, says the goal for his new book is simply "to inject the human side of the profession into the story of the research topics" he has worked on during his 40-year career-to show science as a human quest, not just dry conclusions. While the goal is admirable, the result is disappointing, largely because, unlike his previous books, this one doesn't have a central theme: it touches on a range of questions paleontologists have addressed and tentatively answered, such as how dinosaurs could have lived in the Earth's polar regions (as fossil evidence suggests). Prothero's constant shifting of focus makes it difficult to grasp all of the technical content, while the overwhelming minutiae he provides makes you feel like you are viewing an endless series of photographs from a friend's summer vacation. While small sections are powerful-such as a discussion of how "global warming might paradoxically trigger the next ice age" and do so incredibly rapidly-the book never gels into a coherent whole. Photos, illus. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

Introductory material in this work centers on an extensive survey of the extinct mammalian fauna of the American badlands and on dramatic greenhouse events leading to mass extinctions. However, the latter topic is quickly dropped. Near the book's end, geologist/writer Prothero (Occidental College) briefly reconsiders climate in a short chapter about global warming and the future of our planet. The latter half of the book is marked by more interesting and thought-provoking discussions on a range of topics, including evolutionary insights offered by the theory of punctuated equilibrium as a mechanism of speciation, and a critical analysis of impact theory as it relates to major extinction events. Prothero stresses the rebirth of paleontology from a musty science of fossil descriptions to a dynamic field of paleobiology, emphasizing evolutionary relationships and a multidisciplinary scientific approach. This book is largely a personal narrative of the author's education and career, providing a capsule summary of his paleontology fieldwork and publications. The complexity of the material varies from easily understood to challenging (sometimes cumbersome). The final chapter highlights the somber and eye-opening nature of paleontology as a career choice. Undergraduate students interested in pursuing further study and work in paleontology will find this book helpful. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate and graduate students. D. A. Brass independent scholar