My Beloved Brontosaurus
On the Road with Old Bones, New Science, and Our Favorite Dinosaurs
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Narrated by:
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Brian Switek
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By:
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Brian Switek
About this listen
Paleontology meets pop culture in a talented young author’s journey into the lives of dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs, with their awe-inspiring size, terrifying claws and teeth, and otherworldly abilities, occupy a sacred place in our childhoods. They loom over museum halls, thunder through movies, and are a fundamental part of our collective imagination. In My Beloved Brontosaurus, the dinosaur fanatic Brian Switek enriches the childlike sense of wonder these amazing creatures instill in us. Investigating the latest discoveries in paleontology, he breathes new life into old bones. Switek reunites us with these mysterious creatures as he visits desolate excavation sites and hallowed museum vaults, exploring everything from the sex life of Apatosaurus and T. rex’s feather-laden body to just why dinosaurs vanished. (And of course, on his journey, he celebrates the book’s titular hero, “Brontosaurus” - who suffered a second extinction when we learned he never existed at all - as a symbol of scientific progress.)
With infectious enthusiasm, Switek questions what we’ve long held to be true about these beasts, weaving in stories from his obsession with dinosaurs, which started when he was just knee-high to a Stegosaurus. Endearing, surprising, and essential to our understanding of our own evolution and our place on Earth, My Beloved Brontosaurus is an audiobook that dinosaur fans and anyone interested in scientific progress will cherish for years to come.
Includes a bonus interview between Brian Switek and Amanda Moon, managing editor of the Scientific American imprint at Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
©2013 Brian Switek (P)2013 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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- A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Abridged
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In The Ancestor's Tale, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins offers a masterwork: an exhilarating reverse tour through evolution, from present-day humans back to the microbial beginnings of life four billion years ago. Throughout the journey, Dawkins spins entertaining, insightful stories and sheds light on topics such as speciation, sexual selection, and extinction. The Ancestor's Tale is at once an essential education in evolutionary theory and riveting in its telling.
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Please do an unabridged version!
- By MovieExpertise on 09-29-16
By: Richard Dawkins
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Paleontology
- A Brief History of Life
- By: Ian Tattersall
- Narrated by: Brett Barry
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Ian Tattersall, a highly esteemed figure in the fields of anthropology, archaeology, and paleontology, leads a fascinating tour of the history of life and the evolution of human beings. Starting at the very beginning, Tattersall examines patterns of change in the biosphere over time, and the correlations of biological events with physical changes in the Earth's environment.
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great summary of where we are with understanding
- By david on 06-25-11
By: Ian Tattersall
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The Beak of the Finch
- A Story of Evolution in Our Time
- By: Jonathan Weiner
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spend 20 years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos, studying natural selection. They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are 400 at the time of the author's visit or when there are over a thousand. They have observed about 20 generations of finches - continuously.Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.
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Fascinating in-depth look at evolution in action
- By Philip on 05-15-11
By: Jonathan Weiner
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The First Human
- The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors
- By: Ann Gibbons
- Narrated by: Renee Raudman
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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This dynamic chronicle of the race to find the "missing links" between humans and apes transports readers into the highly competitive world of fossil hunting and into the lives of the ambitious scientists intent on pinpointing the dawn of humankind. The quest to find where and when the earliest human ancestors first appeared is one of the most exciting and challenging of all scientific pursuits.
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Interesting subject, poor execution
- By A book reader on 10-14-06
By: Ann Gibbons
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Born in Africa
- The Quest for the Origins of Human Life
- By: Martin Meredith
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In Born in Africa, Martin Meredith follows the trail of discoveries about human origins made by scientists over the last hundred years, recounting their intense rivalry, personal feuds, and fierce controversies, as well as their feats of skill and endurance. The results have been momentous. Scientists have identified more than 20 species of extinct humans. They have firmly established Africa as the birthplace not only of humankind but also of modern humans.
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A Brief History of Paleoanthropology
- By Jeff Harris on 05-06-13
By: Martin Meredith
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The Horse
- The Epic History of Our Noble Companion
- By: Wendy Williams
- Narrated by: Angela Brazil
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Horses have a story to tell - one of resilience, sociability, and intelligence and of partnership with human beings. In The Horse, journalist and equestrienne Wendy Williams brings that story brilliantly to life. Williams chronicles the 56-million-year journey of horses as she visits with experts around the world, exploring what our biological affinities and differences can tell us about the bond between horses and humans and what our longtime companions might think and feel.
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Full of science.
- By Jennifer90046 on 02-07-17
By: Wendy Williams
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The Sediments of Time
- My Lifelong Search for the Past
- By: Meave Leakey, Samira Leakey
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Preeminent paleoanthropologist Meave Leakey brings us along on her remarkable journey to reveal the diversity of our early pre-human ancestors and how past climate change drove their evolution. She offers a fresh account of our past, as recent breakthroughs have allowed new analysis of her team’s fossil findings and vastly expanded our understanding of our ancestors. Meave’s own personal story is replete with drama, from thrilling discoveries on the shores of Lake Turkana to run-ins with armed herders and every manner of wildlife, to raising her children....
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Brilliant!
- By tess koffler on 04-07-21
By: Meave Leakey, and others
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The Most Perfect Thing
- By: Tim Birkhead
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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How are eggs of different shapes made, and why are they the shapes they are? When does the shell of an egg harden? Why do some eggs contain two yolks? How are the colours and patterns of eggshells created, and why do they vary? And which end of an egg is laid first - the blunt end or the pointy end?
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Great book about eggs!!
- By Timothy on 03-24-21
By: Tim Birkhead
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Feathers
- The Evolution of a Natural Miracle
- By: Thor Hanson
- Narrated by: Andy Ingalls
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Feathers are an evolutionary marvel: Aerodynamic, insulating, beguiling. They date back more than 100 million years. Yet their story has never been fully told. In Feathers, biologist Thor Hanson details a sweeping natural history, as feathers have been used to fly, protect, attract, and adorn through time and place. Applying the research of paleontologists, ornithologists, biologists, engineers, and even art historians, Hanson asks: What are feathers? How did they evolve? What do they mean to us?
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Fantastic Science and Fun
- By Chris Reich on 12-28-14
By: Thor Hanson
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The Thing with Feathers
- The Surprising Lives of Birds and What They Reveal About Being Human
- By: Noah Strycker
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Birds are highly intelligent animals, yet their intelligence is dramatically different from our own and has been little understood. As we learn more about the secrets of bird life, we are unlocking fascinating insights into memory, relationships, game theory, and the nature of intelligence itself. The Thing with Feathers explores the astonishing homing abilities of pigeons, the good deeds of fairy-wrens, the influential flocking abilities of starlings, the deft artistry of bowerbirds, the extraordinary memories of nutcrackers, and other mysteries.
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Interesting book, terrible reader
- By MGM123 on 03-16-18
By: Noah Strycker
What listeners say about My Beloved Brontosaurus
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- BrendaMT
- 03-14-18
Great book, but....
A great book about dinosaurs, but sadly also a great example of why authors should NOT read their own books.
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- s j houchen
- 11-04-23
A dinosaur lovers must read
This was an awesome read. Not only did it bring back memories of my childhood love of dinosaurs but I learned new information of the life and death of those wonderful creatures. Also, the nomenclature changes and history of the science behind those long lost wonderful creatures. And yes I too wanted an Brontosaurus, sorry, Apatosaurus as a pet.
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- JURANDYR
- 05-29-16
A Comprehensive and Engaging Update on the Field
The title and much of the book's content pretty much express the mixed feelings that old timers like me have trying to reconcile the old portrayal of the titanic beasts with everything researchers all over the globe have been bringing to light about peacock-like little dragons - and explains why we can't avoid the transition. Masterful work, a pleasure to read/listen.
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- Gram1950
- 04-22-21
Reminiscences of a Scientist
Remembering the fun of growing up and not out growing a boys love of exciting, enormous, extinct dinosaurs makes informative and nostalgic reading. The author takes you through the new discoveries that have changed what we know about dinosaurs. I think he must about the same age as my sons. I remember taking them to museums and to see dinosaur prints. His narration doesn’t do justice to his enthusiasm. It might be a better read than listen.
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- Atila
- 04-21-13
A passionate update on Dinosaurs
Ever since I left my dinomania behind, I still love dinosaurs, but don't have the time to read all the new science that has been produced in the last years about them. And it is so much new stuff. Brian Switek does exactly this, puts us up to date to what is currently known about dinos. He is a great science writer that I have followed for many years thorough the blog Laelaps and is completely qualified for this role.
Narrated by himself, you can hear how he came to love dinosaurs and kept this passion until adulthood, and how much about what we thought about dinosaurs changed. How they evolved, what colours they had, what sound they maid, how they behaved, how they grew so much, how they made sex and more. Well written, well explained and citing scientific sources, a great reading. My only complain is that it left me wanting more.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Adam
- 01-16-16
Great book. Poor performance.
I thoroughly enjoyed the content of the book but had trouble staying with it because of what seemed like an uninspired performance. I was surprised when I realized that the reader and the author are one and the same. The person reading the book just doesn't sound interested in dinosaurs or paleontology. Go figure. Being only the casual dinosaur enthusiast, I learned a lot.
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- Orrin
- 05-18-13
Self-inflicted wounds mar otherwise very fun read
Any additional comments?
Like the author, Jurassic Park really inspired me to pay attention to dinosaurs as fascinating animals instead of stop motion monsters, and this book was generally a fun ride through a lot of dinosauria's newest discoveries. A lot of it I already was aware of based on general interest news stories, but the book covered those things in further depth, which was great.
There were two problems with the book, though. First, the author felt the need to completely unnecessarily toss in some political jabs, making him look small and closed-minded (hardly attributes you want in any scientist). I don't have any patience for Creationists, but why go out of your way to attack them, particularly in a way that comes off as an attack on all religion? That carries over to contempt for past generations of scientists who got things wrong, but were working within the paradigms and the technological limitations of their times. A failure to understand why a different scientist may have - in good faith - come to a different conclusion is again the mark of a limited imagination, which limits his own scientific credibility. Sometimes I agreed with him and sometimes I didn't, but in all instances it was distracting, and those little windows of bitterness (that's how they came off) sadly reduced what is otherwise great joy in learning new things.
Second, the author should not have read the book himself. I have no doubt he's passionate about the subject, but his affect was flat, almost bored. There is an irrepressible, child-like joy in learning about dinosaurs, and that didn't come through. There's no shame in hiring professionals to more accurately convey the emotion of one's story, and that would have been an improvement here.
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12 people found this helpful
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- J. D. Botet
- 06-16-13
Good story, bad reading!
A very interesting story,but, I became very upset as the reader goes too fast and sounds uninterested in the subject. Ruined by the wrong reader! Couldn`t finnish it.
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6 people found this helpful