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.

Inspired by the wonder of his own parental experiences, former psychoanalyst and New York Times best-selling author Jeffrey Masson offers a remarkable look at one of the most fulfilling roles in the animal world: fatherhood. In The Evolution of Fatherhood , he explores the extraordinary dedication and behavior of nature's most outstanding dads. Discover the male emperor penguin incubating his egg through Antarctic blizzards, prairie dog dads teaching their pups vital life skills through play, and the South American tamarin monkey who actively "coaches" his mate through labor. Learn why wolves make devoted fathers, while their close relatives, dogs, often don't display the same level of paternal care. With captivating writing and impeccable research, Masson celebrates the unique and often surprising role males play in the lives of their young. He contrasts these heroes with nature's less involved fathers--like lions, langurs, and bears--and challenges the notion that paternal care is purely biological. Masson passionately demonstrates that for many animals, fatherhood is a profound, all-encompassing emotional experience. Compelling and inspirational, The Evolution of Fatherhood is a book that will forever change how you perceive parenthood, family bonds, and the rich emotional lives of the animals who share our world.