The Science of Jurassic Park: And the Lost World Or, How to Build a Dinosaur
by Rob Desalle, David Lindley
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Description
Using the motion picture Jurassic Park as a starting point, DeSalle and Lindley discuss how possible it would actually be to clone dinosaurs from DNA found in prehistoric blood and what problems might be encountered in creating a complete genetic blueprint, an egg, and a suitable habitat.Tags
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Member Reviews
I absolutely loved this book. I generally love "the science of..." type books, but this one was particularly well written. I believe this book can be relatively broken up into three sections:
Section 1: Mourn for your youth - I grew up with Jurassic Park. I obsessed so much over it that I devoured anything Michael Crichton in middle school. During a stay in the hospital, my mother and I read Jurassic Park and The Lost World to one another. The beginning chapters of this book all basically start off with: it's not possible, but assuming it were, this, this and this would go wrong. It completely ruins the suspension of disbelief.
Section 2: Get rid of the science curriculum in public schools - I learned more about Earth science, geology, show more biology and other natural sciences reading this than I did attending a math and science magnet school and studying engineering. It's incredible how easy the authors made complex concepts to understand.
Section 3: Let's punch Ian Malcolm - I always had a sneaking suspicion Malcolm was blowing smoke out of his ass; this book provided all the scientific and mathematical reasons that he really was an arrogant asshole. show less
Section 1: Mourn for your youth - I grew up with Jurassic Park. I obsessed so much over it that I devoured anything Michael Crichton in middle school. During a stay in the hospital, my mother and I read Jurassic Park and The Lost World to one another. The beginning chapters of this book all basically start off with: it's not possible, but assuming it were, this, this and this would go wrong. It completely ruins the suspension of disbelief.
Section 2: Get rid of the science curriculum in public schools - I learned more about Earth science, geology, show more biology and other natural sciences reading this than I did attending a math and science magnet school and studying engineering. It's incredible how easy the authors made complex concepts to understand.
Section 3: Let's punch Ian Malcolm - I always had a sneaking suspicion Malcolm was blowing smoke out of his ass; this book provided all the scientific and mathematical reasons that he really was an arrogant asshole. show less
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1997; 1999
- First words
- So you want to make a dinosaur?
PROLOGUE:
Take a seat. The tape's in the VCR, the remote control's in your hand, the popcorn's at your side.
INTRODUCTION:
Say “Jurassic Park” and people instantly know what you're talking about. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)It's apparently a question for which he has no answer.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)EPILOGUE:
Yet if we ever reach the point where we have the technical ability to create dinosaurs, we may find that the ethical problems involved in resurrecting an extinc creature will pale in comparison to the quandaries we will encounter because of our ability to manipulate the tiniest genetic elements of living creatures—most particularly, ourselves.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 251
- Popularity
- 128,814
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.83)
- Languages
- English, Italian, Polish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 2
