This book isn't about dinosaurs. Well, it is about dinosaurs, but that's not what this book is really about. This is a book about science. Not the simplified list of steps for the scientific method that you learn in middle school, but real-world professional science. Science that involves not just academic learning, but luck and personal connections and dedication. Science where knowledge isn't static, where researchers build upon and challenge the work of scientists who came before them. And there's also a bunch of stuff about dinosaurs and evolution and massive extinctions.

The reason I didn't give this book 5 stars (it would get 4.5 if Goodreads would ever adopt the vastly superior half-star system) is that it sometimes tries to hard to be literary. For a book with so much scientific information, it's an easy, enjoyable read (or listen, as I read this on audiobook). Brusatte demonstrates great skill in distilling millions of years of geological development and biological evolution into something that someone like me can understand. Where his prose falters is when he goes too hard for figurative language. An example of this is when he's describing some sort of proto-crocodile thing and he describes it as being like a greyhound. That's good. I know what a greyhound is and that it doesn't look much like a modern crocodile, so I am able to get an image of the creature in my mind. But instead of moving on, the author doubles down, describing proto-croc as looking like an emaciated supermodel. There are times when less figurative language can be a good thing.