DINOSAURS PAST AND PRESENT, Volumes I &...

DINOSAURS PAST AND PRESENT, Volumes I & II, edited by Sylvia Czerkas & Everett C. Olson (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles/University of Washington Press; $22.95 each). Issued in conjunction with a symposium and a popular traveling exhibit that recently returned to the L. A. Museum of Natural History, these opulent books document the changing image of the dinosaurs. Exactly what dinosaurs were, how they looked and how they moved remains the subject of widespread controversy. (Robert Bakker’s paper on the “dancing dinosaurs” has provoked considerable debate.) Among the numerous illustrations, the most satisfying are Mark Hallet’s striking, highly realistic paintings (one of his preliminary sketches is reproduced above). Although some of the material is fairly technical, these books can be enjoyed by the interested layman.