Book Review: How to Build a Dinosaur

How to Build a Dinousaur: Extinction Doesn't Have to Be Forever by Jack Horner and James Gorman. London and New York: Dutton, 2009.

There are a couple of things misleading about the title of this book. First, it's not really about how to build a dinosaur, it's about the science that has lead up to the possibility that we might someday be able to create a living dinosaur out of a bird embryo. And second, it's not really about bringing anything back from extinction, it's about using the way a growing creature's genetic code sends instructions to its cells to learn about how evolution has progressed and in the process change the development of a chicken so that it grows into something more commonly recognizable as a dinosaur (because, or course, birds are already dinosaurs). There's nothing about tinkering with the DNA itself.

That said, this is a great book, and though it's not entirely focused on bones there is more than enough cool bone science for the curious skelephile. If you're into dinosaurs (and if not, what's wrong with you?), or the evolution of birds, or if you're interested in how embryonic development makes a skeleton grow a pygostyle, say, instead of a tail, you should add this volume to your library. Jack Horner is an articulate and enthusiastic dinosaur guy, and with the help of co-author James Gorman he's written a very readable book that intelligent readers of just about any level of dinosaur knowledge can enjoy.

I would have liked to see a few more illustrations or photographs, but the lack of them isn't really a strike against the book. The most important things get visuals--I'd just have liked to have had a few more things to ponder visually.

Though this isn't a book aimed at a scholarly audience, I do think bone scholars would find a lot to like here. Plus, there are references in the back for each chapter, so the interested can pursue the scientific papers and books that inform the discussion.

I based this review on the 2009 hardcover version that I found remaindered at the local book store. I see, though, that a paperback with a different subtitle (The New Science of Reverse Evolution) came out in 2010. I've no idea if anything else changed besides the title, but if you're going to buy it full price, you might want to go for the more recent edition.