Why Dinosaurs Matter

By: Kenneth Lacovara

Narrated by: Kenneth Lacovara

What can extinct dinosaurs teach us about our future? Plenty, according to paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara, who has discovered some of the largest creatures to ever walk the Earth.

By tapping into the ubiquitous wonder that dinosaurs inspire, Lacovara weaves together the stories of our geological awakening, of humanity’s epic struggle to understand the nature of deep time, the meaning of fossils, and our own place on the vast and bountiful tree of life.

Go on a journey––back to when dinosaurs ruled the Earth––to discover how dinosaurs achieved feats unparalleled by any other group of animals. Learn the secrets of how paleontologists find fossils, and explore quirky, but profound questions, such as: Is a penguin a dinosaur? And, how are the tiny arms of T. rex the key to its power and ferocity?

In this revealing book, Lacovara offers the latest ideas about the shocking and calamitous death of the dinosaurs and ties their vulnerabilities to our own. Why Dinosaurs Matter is compelling and engaging—a great reminder that our place on this planet is both precarious and potentially fleeting. “As we move into an uncertain environmental future, it has never been more important to understand the past.”

humbling, eloquent, and beautifully portrayed

The journey Dr. Lacovara paints is wonderful and drives to the heart of being precariously human. The story leaves you feeling humbled and awe inspired by our place in the cosmos. The ending was brilliantly put in, addressing the ever increasing issues of climate change.

Thank you for this excellent flashback to my undergrad days in your evolution/paleo courses at Drexel. - Jesse S.

Brilliant and important!

Inspired after watching the TED talk that summarizes the messages of this book, I was curious to hear the longer story and the details. The perspectives and the way the the story of life on earth is told is just brilliant and entertaining. The message is extremely important in a time where celebrities and stupidity seems to get more attention than facts and good narratives of those facts.

Funny, witty and educational

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It started me off laughing and kept me entertained the entire time.

I’m a dinosaur fan so the subject matter was a perfect fit.

Of course dinosaurs mater

This book argues the strange case if dinosaurs maters or not. The first hour is fantastically boring. But it goes into the really interesting history of the discovery of the dinosaurs. That part was fascinating!

Get to the Point

This book isn't a book for data about dinosaurs, it's more generalized. Throughout the book, the author builds up to a point in the last chapter. I'm giving it three stars for that build up. If you don't know much about dinosaurs and their generalized evolution, this is a book for you. Being a paleontology guru, I was underwhelmed. I agree with the author's conclusion about the importance of dinosaurs, and their significance as an example of terrestrial organisms, but I didn't want to have to get through the whole book to hear his conclusion on the topic. It's not a bad book, in fact it's a very good one with an interesting and convincing point of view, but my three stars are because I had to get to the last chapter for anything related to the title of this volume.