Dinosaurs in Egypt

The Lost Dinosaurs of Egypt by William Nothdurft with Josh Smith (567.9 NOT) is about two paleontological teams who were separated by almost ninety years - one expedition was in 1911, the other in 2000.

In 1911, German paleontologist Ernst Freiherr Stromer von Reichenbach trekked across an inhospitable desert in Egypt to find evidence of early mammals. He didn't find any mammal bones - the rocks were too old for that. However, he did find the remains of four new dinosaurs. Complications arose when he tried to the the bones out of Egypt to his homeland of Germany. When they finally arrived in Germany and placed in the Bavarian State Collection of Paleontology and Historical Geology in Munich, misfortune befell him again. During World War II, the museum was bombed, destroying all the bones that had been collected.

Fast forward to 2000: American graduate student Josh Smith brought a team to Egypt to find the lost dinosaurs that Stomer so meticulously wrote about in his journals. Despite the shifting sand and no good landmarks to use, Smith's team, amazingly, found the same location. The first bones they found just turned to dust when they tried to recover them. After a more thorough search of the area, they uncovered large, well preserved bones.

This book will appeal to those with various interests. Of course, those who are into paleontology will want to check out this book. This will also appeal to history buffs (especially those who like reading about WWI and WWII) and those who have a fascination with Egypt.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007