Jurassic Poop: What Dinosaurs (and Others) Left Behind (review)

Who knew that poop would be such a popular subject (see Davies' Poop: A Natural History of the Unmentionable, BCCB 11/04, and Goodman's The Truth about Poop, 6/04) that authors would need to specialize within the field? Berkowitz narrows the fecal focus to poops of the past and what they can tell us, whether it be about dinosaurs or long-ago humans. Berkowitz' style is goofy and lighthearted, but there's plenty of real information, ranging from profiles of scientists who study different aspects of historic poop, features on particular poop lessons (ancient Texans ate fifteen times the amount of fiber we do), discussions of terminology, and advice on how to find coproliths (petrified poop) and whip up a fake batch at home. The approach occasionally becomes a bit more fluffy than usefully comedic, but overall this is an effectively wacky look at a revealing if odd branch of science. The browsable format combines cartoony digital art, photographs (which are sometimes too small for real impact), and design elements such as spiky borders and background shading, and each feature has a catchy title ("Turd to Treasure," "Don't Scoop That Poop!", "History from the Bottom Up"); the result is a homey clutter that will reassure reluctant readers and invite looky-loos in for further reading. A glossary, answer key to quizzes, and index are included.