Since I forgot what my topic for letter I in the A to Z April Challenge was supposed to be, and I know that I have it written in my notebook at home, I'm going to join into this fun Thursday meme for the first time today, so here goes my first Throwback Thursday. I hope I'm doing this right!
I've selected a post from the first year with this blog, going way back to December 1st, 2009. I was a science teacher for 17 years, and part of the reason I did that was my love of all things earth science, especially dinosaurs. This book I reviewed was about dinosaurs, but also made me remember my college graduation gift, a trip to be part of a real dinosaur dig. I've copied the post below.
Book Review 53: How to Build a Dinosaur by Jack Horner
I
first learned about Jack Horner when I was in college, then Central
Missouri State University, now called University of Central Missouri. It
was either my sophomore or junior year, I think the first time I took
Invertebrate Paleontology. I say first time, because my first teacher
was a horrible teacher. I had a C, he lost my final, which I felt like
I'd done really well on, and told me I had a D. Since that was in my
major, I had to re-take the class. I'm glad in a way that I did, because
the my 2nd teacher was an awesome teacher and took me on my first
"real" fossil expeditions. But I digress. It was about this time that
the book Jurassic Park was a big hit, soon to be followed by the movie.
My infatuation with dinosaurs was rediscovered. Around this time I asked
for a book I'd heard about called "Digging Up Dinosaurs" by Dr. John
Horner for a Christmas gift. Dr. John Horner is Jack Horner. I soon was
to the point where I couldn't get enough nonfiction science books on
dinosaurs and paleontology. My family of course noticed this, and the
awesome college graduation gift I received was based on an article my
step-dad found in the Kansas City Star my Senior year of college. In
Montana, Jack Horner had a camp funded through the Montana State
University where anyone who came up with the money and got signed up in
time could come and work on an actual dinosaur dig. I got to go spend a
week doing this the summer after I graduated. I still remember it all
vividly, sleeping in a teepee. The pitch blackness at night, except for
how bright the moon in the sky was. Being in a desert, yet wearing a
sweatshirt on a July morning when we first went out to dig.
The
money people pay for this, is one way they continue to fund their digs.
And if I could, I would pay to go every year. I loved every minute of
it. Except maybe for the bathrooms, and vegetarian dinner night. :-) A
year ago, a new book came out called "How to Build a Dinosaur" by Jack
Horner again. I asked for it last year as either a birthday or Christmas
gift, but just wasn't quite in the mood to pick it up and read. I've
kind of been in a nonfiction slump other than a few weight loss memoirs
last spring. A couple weeks ago 60 Minutes did a story on Jack Horner,
and basically what this book is about, and I remembered that book
sitting on my shelf. I was also waiting for the final book on my Mark
Twain nominee list to be available to check out at the library, and so
was looking for what to read. And so I picked this up, and was again
drawn right back in to this world I wish I was a part of every day of my
life. Dr. Horner wants to create a Chickenosaur. Birds have been
declared the descendents of dinosaurs, and so using a chicken and
changing some things in its embryological development is where Dr.
Horner sees us going.
Obviously there is
much more to the book than I've laid out here, but I'll leave it open
for others to read and enjoy. I will leave you with a quote Dr. Horner
includes in this book by George Carlin. I'm not always a Carlin fan, due
to some of his political comments, but this one sums up my views on
global warming, and other environmental issues, as well as bringing to
light the attitude that scientists in the geology field, which I equate
myself with, have towards all these same things.
"Way
over 90 percent of all the species that have ever lived on this planet -
ever lived - are gone. They're extinct. We didn't kill them all. They
just disappeared. That's what nature does. They disappear these days at
the reate of twenty-five a day. And I mean regardless of our behavior.
Irrespective of how we act on this planet, twenty-five species that are
here today will be gone tomorrow. Let them go gracefully. Leave nature
alone." - George Carlin
I actually have a
few more reviews to do, but in the sense that I'm getting tired of
typing, I'll come back and fill them in another day.
