Dinosaurs are awesome. Practically every six-year-old knows this already. We grow up exposed to dinosaurs whether in movies, comics and or molded plastic.

“While “Brontosaurus” was unquestionably the most famous dinosaur to vanish, many others have disappeared, too.”

page 92

Despite the role they played in childhood adventures, dinosaurs are not figments of our imagination. Science is constantly changing and improving what we know about these creatures.

Why is this on our bookshelf?

Strip away mythical creatures like dragons, and dinosaurs are easiest the coolest geeky animals ever.

We geeked out over them when we were young, we geeked out over then when we watched (or read) Jurassic Park,  we geek out over dino things on the internet (dinovember, anyone?), and some geeks, like Brian Switek, take their geeky love to the higher scientific plane of enthusiasm.

Rating (5 stars)

I went to Disneyland soon after finishing this book, and it was all I could think of while riding the Disneyland Railroad through the primeval world diorama, which originally debuted at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

Yeah… Switek is right… We have definitely come along in our understanding of dinosaurs.

What hasn’t changed is how compelling dinosaurs are. They’re just cool, whether it is 1906 (Tyrannosaurus was named the previous year), 1966 (when the diorama arrived at Disneyland) or 2006 (which had 38 newly named dinosaurs).

New knowledge is exciting, but Brian Switek also understands the fondness we have for the dinosaurs we grew up with, even when they may not even be recognized dinosaurs (actually, that sort of reminds me of the Pluto planet problem…).

Switek successfully manages to convey his enthusiasm for dinosaurs and the exciting new science in the field of paleontology, while still presenting an engaging read. In the hands of another writer, this could easily have been a dry read.

Far from boring, My Beloved Brontosaurus rekindled my six-year-old’s excitement for dinosaurs. Even if you don’t often read nonfiction, if you have a curious mind and perhaps a fondness for dinos, you are bound to love it.