Digging Dinosaurs by John R. Horner, James Gorman

Jack Horner's Landmark 1988 Popular Science Classic on the Discovery of Baby Dinosaurs

First published in 1988, Digging Dinosaurs: The Search That Unraveled the Mystery of Baby Dinosaurs is a thrilling first-person popular science narrative co-authored by legendary paleontologist John R. "Jack" Horner and acclaimed New York Times science journalist James Gorman.

The book takes readers onto the dusty, high-stakes dig sites of central Montana during Horner's historic excavations at "Egg Mountain." It was here that Horner made one of the most profound paleontological breakthroughs of the twentieth century: discovering the first fossilized dinosaur eggs in North America, fragile embryonic skeletons, and vast communal nesting grounds of a new duck-billed species he named Maiasaura ("good mother lizard"). Horner's findings completely overturned the long-held belief that dinosaurs were slow, solitary creatures, providing the first definitive evidence that prehistoric reptiles engaged in complex social behavior, herd migration, and parental care.

Why You'll Love This Book

As the primary scientific advisor for the Jurassic Park film franchise and a direct inspiration for Dr. Alan Grant, Jack Horner delivers a gripping, accessible detective story of field science and fossil discovery. Readers who love paleontology, natural history, and popular science classics by authors like Robert T. Bakker (The Dinosaur Heresies), Stephen Jay Gould, Neil Shubin (Your Inner Fish), Steve Brusatte, and Michael Crichton will find Digging Dinosaurs endlessly fascinating.