The Modern Scholar

Behold the Mighty Dinosaur

By: John Kricher

Narrated by: John Kricher

Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Dinosaurs have been a source of fascination ever since their discovery in England early in the 19th century. Before their extinction, dinosaurs dominated Earth's terrestrial habitats for about 160 million years, far longer than primates. Dinosaurs present the ultimate puzzle in forensic science, but we have learned a great deal about them in the last 50 years. This lecture series will explain the evolutionary and ecological relationships among dinosaurs, what it might have been like to be present in the Mesozoic Era, and the question of what ultimately brought about the total extinction of all dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous Period. Although extinct, dinosaurs have never been more a focus of science than they are today.

©2007 John Kricher (P)2007 Recorded Books, LLC

Reintroducing Self to Dinosaurs(zoological fan)

A very clearly written lecture series that is very informative to the casual or blooming dinosaur fan. I highly recommend this lecture series, I only wish it was longer. The narration is really very good, I don't think it could be better for this type of read. The subject matter includes many of the interesting topics regarding surprisingly interesting paleontological history, and covers most of the major information in what we have learned about dinosaurs in recent years. I typically only listen to narration of fiction, yet this was just as enjoyable, explanations of more complex ideas are well explained for the casual fan, but never felt too dumbed down. If there were a 'part 2' or more in depth version, I would get it without question. If you enjoy the chapter about feathers, I recommend the book "Feathers" also available on Audible(sorry, cant look up authors name).

John Kricher is a terrific teacher

In order to explain a complicated subject the teacher has to be very very well versed in the subject to explain it clearly, and John Kricher is clear without being condescending.

Professor Kricher touches lightly, but intelligently on the history of dinosaur hunters and their Museum directors, the earth's geological timeline and which dinosaurs existed in which era, and the anatomy of the subgroups of dinosaurs. If the man did not go deeply into each topic, it is because it would have taken several semesters of intensive course work to just to scrape the top of the geology, comparative anatomy, and the social history of the people who originally found and named the prehistoric bones. I enjoy listening to scholars who obviously enjoy their subject. I recommend this work to anyone interested in geology and history, not just dinosaurs.

Awesome

Wonderfully easy to listen to and extremely interesting and entertaining. There's a lot of joy and excitement about dinosaurs to be found in these lectures

I had no idea!

If you could sum up The Modern Scholar in three words, what would they be?

Concise, Informative and Entertaining.

Any additional comments?

I had no idea, honestly! I have fairly good grasp of the late Paleolithic up until today. I even have a fair grasp of the big bang to the formation of the solar system, plants and early life. But what about this middle bit. The missing bit. The bit about dinosaurs. Nope had no idea. Out with some cartoon imagery and basic names of dinosaurs from a child I knew nothing. Now I do. It is actually, ironically, the most interesting period, and the bridge.

I always scoffed at it as a time of some kind of irrelevant giant lizard birds and some crazy safari clad men going about digging up bones (fossils). Oh how wrong was I! It is so much more, it really is, and it is not irrelevant at all.

So if this is how you ended up here to find out about the mesolithic I can tell you this title is very enlightening while being concise and informative. A real find and contrast to the great courses perfectly practised more intensely academic style. I like that a great deal but this is more what a lecture hall is like actually in the real world. It is a bit more casual, a bit less scripted. Have a listen it will bring back your student days - but this time giant lizard birds are brought to life. ;) Enjoy!

Amazing!

What made the experience of listening to The Modern Scholar the most enjoyable?

I have never written a review for any of the many audio books I have listened to in the past. However, I felt obligated to write a review for this one as it is the best performance I have ever listened to. Kept me highly entertained throughout. Did not want it to end!

Worth every moment!

Would you listen to The Modern Scholar again? Why?

Already have - about 3 times!

Any additional comments?

Professor Kricher knows his subject and makes it accessible and interesting! It was like being a kid again and discovering how cool dinosaurs were for the first time. He doesn't just talk about the dinosaurs but also the history of fossil hunting, the personalities of the people who found and studied the fossils, and there's even a chapter of dinosaurs in film. Finishing this lecture had me searching (fruitlessly) for other audiobooks about dinosaurs.

An enjoyable, educational trip through the real Jurassic Park

In reading what other people had written before I bought this book, the most common criticism I found was that the author talked way too much about the personalities involved in the paleontological history of dinosaur discovery. After having listened to Dr. Kricher’s lectures I now understand why. Way too emphasis put on who’s who for my taste. I found all of the names and egos interesting to a point, but enough’s enough. One chapter would have quite sufficiently covered everyone, no need for the indepth look at all of these characters.

That said, the man knows his stuff and presents in a way that is informative and yet meted out at a pace that’s easy to follow and to create an ever developing sense of the scope that the dinosaurs played in the history of life on this planet. He presents the material in a light hearted manner that allowed me to take in what he was saying without having to struggle to understand what fits where and when. Overall, it’s very educational and enjoyable and well worth a listen.

Very informative most entertaining

Where does The Modern Scholar rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Modern Scholar is among my favorites for history, science and technology lectures.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Modern Scholar?

The authors time line description of the chronological order in terms of one year. It gave me a sense of how much time elapsed between first life and first complex life.

What does the narrator bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The authors narration is wonderfully inspiring. Plenty of explanations of terms and theory
that are very understandable.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did in fact listen to it in one sitting.

Dinos Dinos Dinos!!!

Where does The Modern Scholar rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This was the first one I've read from this series, and if the rest are as good as this one, I'll definitely be buying more!

What other book might you compare The Modern Scholar to and why?

I actually haven't read any other "real" dinosaur books, so I can't really compare. I've read Dinopedia and others like it, and I loved Jurassic Park, but this was my first dino text book.

Have you listened to any of the narrator’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Nope, this was my first of his, and I quite enjoyed it. It wasn't perfect, he swallowed and smacked his lips pretty audibly and quite often, but other than that he was clear and engaging.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did, actually! I love dinosaur stuff, but I wasn't sure how I'd like a whole dino text book, but I really loved it. I kept telling my husband so, too. "Man, I love this book!" It even made me laugh a few times, Dr Kricher has a pretty good wit.

Any additional comments?

All in all, I'd DEFINITELY reccomend this text to anyone even remotely interested in dinosaurs. It was informative without being dry, a great listen (or a great read too, I imagine). I loved it so much that I read it all in just two sittings. I'm sad that Audible doesn't have any more dino texts from Dr K, I'd have scooped them right up! I give it a superb 9.5/10 (the .5 taken away for that lip smacking :-p )

explore with Indiana Jones

Fascinating, inspiring, and memorable to the end. Listens like an audiobook, not a lecture. Explains what we know, don't know, and how we find out answers to the first questions that come to the layman's mind. The professor's narration is delightful. I only wish he had narrated the other half dozen audiobooks on natural history that I have listened to.