It has been 65 million years since dinosaurs last roamed the Earth. That changes in the summer of 2003 when Pittsburgh becomes a real-life "Jurassic Park"-with a twist. The city will play host to DinoMite Days, coordinated by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, a public art exhibition of brightly painted and creatively decorated fiberglass dinosaurs. Dinosaurs of Distinction tells the story of the event, and serves as a guidebook to the location of the one hundred sculptures that will populate Pittsburgh's streets, office buildings, parks, plazas, and gardens. The book is filled with color photographs, along with information about each dinosaur's artist and the name of each corporate "sponsaur." Once the beasts are auctioned off for charity in the fall, the book will also serve as the perfect keepsake of this brief return of dinosaurs to western Pennsylvania. Modeled after the immensely popular outdoor art exhibitions of cows, horses, pigs, and other animal sculptures in Chicago, New York, and other North American cities, this exhibition is the first to feature fiberglass models of dinosaurs, a choice that celebrates Pittsburgh's international reputation for scientific discovery and innovation by drawing attention to the world-class dinosaur collection housed at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Three different species, Tyrannosaurus rex, Stegosaurus, and Torosaurus, will be represented, though none are life-sized. DinoMite Days will decorate Pittsburgh with a colorful display of local artistry, fueling the imaginations and delighting the senses of both children and adults. Dinosaurs of Distinction documents the artistic process that led to the creation of these Mesozoic marvels, and provides interesting and relevant dinosaur facts that tie each design back to Carnegie Museum of Natural History's remarkable paleontology collections.

An illustrated record book of theropod facts and figures--from the biggest to the fastest to the smartest. This compendium features more than 3,000 records, covers some 750 theropod species, and includes a wealth of illustrations ranging from diagrams and technical drawings to full-color reconstructions of specimens.

A scientific look at creationism from a former creationist A significant number of Americans, especially evangelical Christians, believe Earth and humankind were created in their present form sometime in the last 10,000 years or so—the rationale being that this is (presumably) the story told in the book of Genesis. Within that group, any threatening scientific evidence that suggests otherwise is rejected or, when possible, retrofitted into a creationist worldview. But can this uncomfortable blend of biblical literalism and pseudoscience hold up under scrutiny? Is it tenable to believe that the Grand Canyon was formed not millions of years ago by gradual erosion but merely thousands of years ago by the Great Flood? Were there really baby dinosaurs with Noah on his ark? Janet Kellogg Ray, a science educator who grew up a creationist, doesn’t want other Christians to have to do the exhausting mental gymnastics she did earlier in her life. Working through the findings of a range of fields including geology, paleontology, and biology, she shows how a literal interpretation of the book of Genesis simply doesn’t mesh with what we know to be reality. But as someone who remains a committed Christian, Ray also shows how an acceptance of the theory of evolution is not necessarily an acceptance of atheism, and how God can still be responsible for having created the world, even if it wasn’t in a single, momentary, miraculous event.

What do dinosaurs look like from the inside out? Take a journey with renowned paleontologist Chris McGowan as he examines species from Allosaurus to T. rex! Along with descriptions and depictions of each creature are experiments that readers can do on their own to make sedimentary rock, replicate a fossil, dissect bone structure, and discover how we know about dinosaurs even though they’ve been extinct for millions of years. With Dinosaur Discovery’s accessible and entertaining information and more than twenty-five engaging experiments, aspiring young scientists will be paleontologists in no time!

Explores the Earth prior to dinosaurs and examines the creatures that lived here.

Updated with the material that instructors want, Dinosaurs continues to make science exciting and understandable to non-science majors through its narrative of scientific concepts rather than endless facts. It now contains new material on pterosaurs, an expanded section on the evolution of the dinosaurs and new photographs to help students engage with geology, natural history and evolution. The authors ground the text in the language of modern evolutionary biology, phylogenetic systematics, and teach students to examine the paleontology of dinosaurs exactly as the professionals in the field do using these methods to reconstruct dinosaur relationships. Beautifully illustrated, lively and engaging, this edition continues to encourage students to ask questions and assess data critically, enabling them to think like a scientist.