I can't help but think if I actually finished this when I started it in summer of 2009 I might've found genetics/biochem sophomore year a lot more interesting and would've done better, but that's playing the coulda shoulda woulda game. Fascinating read, especially considering what it would take to produce atavistic features in a chicken. ( )

Super interesting. I hope this guy gets to engineer a real Dino. The book has some fun range -from detailed descriptions of Montana's Paleontology history through the technicalities of gene splicing. If you like dinosaurs and are interested in the future of biotech and it's potential, this is a good book. ( )

This is a horribly written book. There is a ridiculous amount of completely irrelevant filler, a few interesting dinosaur bits and pieces that have nothing to do with the book title (and presumably subject) and then a magazine article length section on "how to build a dinosaur" by fiddling with chicken genomes, along with how the general public is going to freak out about it. The author spends the entire first chapter babbling about a town in the middle of nowhere, how to get there, local gossip and a bit of local history i.e. irrelevant filler. Then there is a section on finding evidence of dinosaur blood cells and collagen, with some pointless pot-shots at creationists (they might be crazy but do you really have to include it in the book, especially since it doesn't accomplish anything?), and too much details about the scientists personal life. The sections dealing with the techniques used was interesting, but there was too little substance and far too much filler. The writing is also simplistic but overly verbose, and got boring after a while.

NOTE: The book was published in 2009, so some of the scientific data discussed may well be out of date by now, especially anything related to genetic alterations. ( )

The book goes over the potential of how to make a dinosaur in this day and age and the theory of how to do so. The entire first portion of the book is a recount of the history of dinosaurs and their evolution thereof. The second part of the book pertains to gene manipulation concerning drugs versus master genes using chickens as a base genome example. The last portion of the book goes over the concise Evolution from bird to mammal and explores the theory of reversing evolution.
A great read if you can follow it. There is a lot of scientific verbiage that would be difficult for the layman do you understand. Very interesting theories and very entertaining overviews. Jack Horner takes you in depth in seeing just how close we are to creating the Chickenosaurus. ( )

I can't help but think if I actually finished this when I started it in summer of 2009 I might've found genetics/biochem sophomore year a lot more interesting and would've done better, but that's playing the coulda shoulda woulda game. Fascinating read, especially considering what it would take to produce atavistic features in a chicken. ( )