The Last Days of the Dinosaurs
Out now! Hardback, ebook, and audiobook available here.
Newsweek 22 Books for 2022
Philadelphia Inquirer's Best Books of April
"This is top-drawer science writing." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A must-read." —NewScientist
"Captivating, conveying piles of scientific information with a poets grace. Even if dinosaurs aren't your thing, I recommend checking this book out from the library for the last chapter on it's own; it's one of the most beautiful meditations on life, identity, death, and the earth I've ever read." —Scarleteen
"A real-life, natural history page-turning drama that is necessary reading for almost anyone interested in the history of life." —Library Journal, starred review
Picture yourself in the Cretaceous period. It’s a sunny afternoon in the Hell Creek of ancient Montana 66 million years ago. A Triceratops horridus ambles along the edge of the forest. In a matter of hours, everything here will be wiped away. Lush verdure will be replaced with fire. Tyrannosaurus rex will be toppled from their throne, along with every other species of non-avian dinosaur no matter their size, diet, or disposition. They just don’t know it yet.
The cause of this disaster was identified decades ago. An asteroid some seven miles across slammed into the Earth, leaving a geologic wound over 50 miles in diameter. In the terrible mass extinction that followed, more than half of known species vanished seemingly overnight. But this worst single day in the history of life on Earth was as critical for us as it was for the dinosaurs, as it allowed for evolutionary opportunities that were closed for the previous 100 million years.
In The Last Days of the Dinosaurs, Riley Black walks readers through what happened in the days, the years, the centuries, and the million years after the impact, tracking the sweeping disruptions that overtook this one spot, and imagining what might have been happening elsewhere on the globe. Life’s losses were sharp and deeply-felt, but the hope carried by the beings that survived sets the stage for the world as we know it now.
Deep Time
Coming October 2021
How can the human mind conceive of the immense arc of the history of our planet or the vast expanse of time since the beginning of the universe? Deep time challenges our sense of meaning, both individually and collectively, and threatens to overwhelm our comprehension of the cosmos. But windows to this cosmic span do exist - traces and artefacts of ancient epochs, things we can see and touch today, which can connect us to this distant past. From the prismatic bands in a polished rock, to the hiss of static on the radio, and from the fossil fragments you find on the beach to the stars in the night sky, the evidence of deep time is all around us.
Carving a timeline through the aeons of evolution that have taken place before our time on Earth, Deep Time explores the evidence that exists beneath our feet, in our museums, in the skies and surrounding us every day, which can help us to make sense of the great age of our world. Organized chronologically, Deep Time features full color imagery of incredible objects, places and phenomena that have withstood unimaginable geological and cosmic forces to bring us the story of time itself.
Did You See That Dinosaur?
Dig into the world of dinosaurs in these seek and find puzzles for kids―can you spot them all?
Have you ever wanted to see a real, live dinosaur? Kid paleontologists Ava and Mateo set their time machine to the Mesozoic Era―and they want you to come, too!
Unearth the lost items in this search and find book for kids as you time travel through the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods. From the lizard-munching Plateosaurus to the insect-eating Caelestiventus, learn everything about super cool and super huge dinosaurs and reptiles, as well as what the world was like millions of years ago.
Order the book here!
Skeleton Keys
"A cheerful popular-science romp" - Kirkus
"Provocative and entertaining" - WSJ
"A thoughtful, engaging meditation" - Nature
"Informative, contemplative, and even lyrical" - Booklist
Our bones have many stories to tell, if you know how to listen.
Bone is a marvel, an adaptable and resilient building material developed over 500 million years of evolutionary history. It gives our bodies their shapes and the ability to move. It grows and changes with us, an undeniable document of who we are and how we lived. Arguably, no other part of the human anatomy has such rich scientific and cultural significance, both brimming with life and a potent symbol of death.
Brian Switek is a charming and enthusiastic osteological raconteur. In this natural and cultural history of bone, he explains where our skeletons came from, what they do inside us, and what others can learn about us when these wondrous assemblies of mineral and protein are all we’ve left behind.
Bone is as embedded in our culture as it is in our bodies. Our species has made instruments and jewelry from bone, treated the dead like collectors’ items, put our faith in skull bumps as guides to human behavior, and arranged skeletons into macabre tributes to the afterlife. Switek makes a compelling case for getting better acquainted with our skeletons, in all their surprising roles. Bridging the worlds of paleontology, anthropology, medicine, and forensics, Skeleton Keys illuminates the complex life of bones inside our bodies and out.
You can purchase Skeleton Keys here.
Prehistoric Predators
Discover the most dangerous carnivores that ever roamed the Earth in this exciting and action-packed exploration of Prehistoric Predators, featuring a unique cover that feels like dinosaur-skin!
The biggest baddies of the prehistoric world -- the carnivores -- come alive in Prehistoric Predators. From favorites like T. rex and Giganotosaurus, to the ferocious Spinosaurus and terrifying megalodon, the stunning full-color illustrations from renowned paleoartist Julius Csotonyi make these dangerous creatures spring to life on each page. Bursting with fascinating facts, dynamic artwork, and a unique dino-skin textured cover, this is the perfect book for dinosaur lovers of every age!
When Dinosaurs Ruled
Written by Brian Switek, this National Geographic magazine special issue introduces readers to the creatures of the Mesozoic era, denizens of enormous size and ferociousness that reigned over land, sea, and sky roughly 252 to 66 million years ago. The Mesozoic earth was very different from the world we know—a hot planet with a single giant continent that eventually broke apart, forming separate land and warm shallow seas. On this slowly shifting stage, a cast of giants arose, dominating every imaginable niche. Chronicling the three periods of the Mesozoic—Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous—When Dinosaurs Ruled answers questions like what is a dinosaur, and who are our current world descendants of these long lost creatures?
You can purchase When Dinosaurs Ruled here.
My Beloved Brontosaurus
One of Amazon's Best Science Books of 2013
One of Publishers Weekly’s Top Ten Spring Science Books for 2013
Selected by Apple’s iBookstore as one of the best books of April 2013
Hudson Booksellers Read of the Month for March 2014
Dinosaurs, with their awe-inspiring size, terrifying claws and teeth, and otherworldly abilities, occupy a sacred place in our childhoods. They loom over museum halls, thunder through movies, and are a fundamental part of our collective imagination. In My Beloved Brontosaurus, the dinosaur fanatic Brian Switek enriches the childlike sense of wonder these amazing creatures instill in us. Investigating the latest discoveries in paleontology, he breathes new life into old bones.
Switek reunites us with these mysterious creatures as he visits desolate excavation sites and hallowed museum vaults, exploring everything from the sex life of Apatosaurus and T. rex’s feather-laden body to just why dinosaurs vanished. (And of course, on his journey, he celebrates the book’s titular hero, “Brontosaurus”—who suffered a second extinction when we learned he never existed at all—as a symbol of scientific progress.)
With infectious enthusiasm, Switek questions what we’ve long held to be true about these beasts, weaving in stories from his obsession with dinosaurs, which started when he was just knee-high to a Stegosaurus. Endearing, surprising, and essential to our understanding of our own history.
You can purchase My Beloved Brontosaurus here.
Written in Stone
“In this thoroughly entertaining science history, Switek combines a deep knowledge of the fossil record with a Holmesian compulsion to investigate the myriad ways evolutionary discoveries have been made…It’s poetry, serendipity, and smart entertainment because Switek has found the sweet spot between academic treatise and pop culture, a literary locale that is a godsend to armchair explorers everywhere.” — Booklist
“[Switek’s] pithy accounts explain how the fossils … came to be discovered and interpreted . . . [an] excellent book.”—Wall Street Journal
“In delightful prose, [Switek] . . . superbly shows that ‘[i]f we can let go of our conceit,’ we will see the preciousness of life in all its forms.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
When Charles Darwin unveiled his revolutionary idea that life had evolved by means of natural selection it made sense of the whole of biology, yet it was dogged by a major problem: the transitional fossils that would confirm Darwin’s predictions were seemingly nowhere to be found. The absence of these “missing links” became one of the most hotly debated issues in evolutionary science.
Only now—through advances in paleontology, molecular biology, and genetics—can the comprehensive story be told. Written in Stone is the first popular account of the remarkable discovery of these fossils (from walking whales to feathered dinosaurs and hominins of all types), the debates they engender, and how today’s discoveries have changed our perspective of the tree of life. By combining the most up-to-date scientific research with the history of science, Written in Stone explores our changing ideas about our place in nature and celebrates the remarkable variety of life on Earth.
You can purchase Written in Stone here.