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Title details for Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party by Edward Dolnick - Available

Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party

How an Eccentric Group of Victorians Discovered Prehistoric Creatures and Accidentally Upended the World

by Edward Dolnick
Cassandra Campbell
Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
From the bestselling author of The Clockwork Universe and The Writing of the Gods, an "utterly delightful...hugely entertaining" (Air Mail) book about the eccentric Victorians who discovered dinosaur bones, leading to a whole new understanding of human history.
In the early 1800s the natural world was a safe and cozy place, or so people believed. But then a twelve-year-old farm boy in Massachusetts stumbled on a row of fossilized three-toed footprints the size of dinner plates—the first dinosaur tracks ever found. Soon, in England, scientists unearthed enormous bones that reached as high as a man's head. Outside of myths and fairy tales, no one had even imagined that creatures like three-toed giants had once lumbered across the land—nor dreamed that they could all have vanished, hundreds of millions years ago.

In Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party, celebrated storyteller and historian Edward Dolnick leads us through a compelling true adventure as the paleontologists of the early 19th century puzzled their way through the fossil record to create the story of dinosaurs we know today. The tale begins with Mary Anning, a poor, uneducated woman who had a sixth sense for finding fossils buried deep inside cliffs; moves to William Buckland, an eccentric geologist who filled his home with specimens and famously pieced together a prehistoric scene from the fossil record inside a cave; and then on to the controversial Richard Owen, the era's best-known scientist, and the one who coined the term "dinosaur."

"Exuberant" (Kirkus Reviews), entertaining, erudite, and featuring an unconventional cast of characters, Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party tells the story of how the accidental discovery of prehistoric creatures upended humanity's understanding of the world and its own place within it.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 6, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781797179247
      • File size: 255008 KB
      • Duration: 08:51:15

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Golden Voice narrator Cassandra Campbell handles this nonfiction audiobook about the discovery of dinosaur bones in the early 1800s as effectively as she does the contemporary novels of Judy Bloom and John Grisham. Her brisk, commanding, highly flexible voice maintains its hold on the listener's ear even while traversing species names and fossil characteristics. A mismatched assortment of amateur geologists, baffled scientists, and determined Bible scholars provides Campbell with a rich narrative, often droll, always informative and insightful. The listener's tool here is the benefit of hindsight. Today we know these were prehistoric creatures, not victims of the Great Flood, and that the world is millions of years old. But in the decades before Darwin that was unwelcome news. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      December 6, 2024

      In the early 1800s, as the Industrial Revolution brought epic innovations to the world, the digging and development that came with it would turn up an immense discovery: dinosaurs. Decades before the word "dinosaur" existed, the safety of the known world was turned on its head, and scientists were faced with reconciling the fossils and footprints of heretofore unimaginable creatures with the religious tenets that were the previous basis for scientific belief. Dolnick (The Writing of the Gods) presents a fun, fast-paced story about the early days of paleontology. An accompanying PDF includes additional material and is referenced frequently throughout the audio. Narrator Cassandra Campbell gives an unembellished but engaging performance of this nonfiction narrative. With so many events taking place in Great Britain, using a British narrator may have made for a more immersive experience, but Campbell's delivery is clear and pleasant. VERDICT This audio will appeal to listeners seeking thorough, thought-provoking science writing about eclectic Victorian-era paleontologists. Recommended for fans of richly detailed natural-history nonfiction, such as Roy Plotnick's Explorers of Deep Time.--Lauren Hackert

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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