Reviews for William Diller Matthew, Paleontologist: The Splendid Drama Observed

The average rating for William Diller Matthew, Paleontologist: The Splendid Drama Observed based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-04-03 00:00:00 Everett Sandoz Amazing memoir by a great field paleontologist and T. rex hunter, who ended up in jail for politically-motivated, trumped-up federal charges of paperwork violations. Mind, that's his side of the story, but it's heartbreaking, and an eye-opener of why you really, really don't want to get in the crosshairs of an ambitious Federal prosecutor. Per Wikipedia, Larson was sentenced to two years in prison, for offenses that supposedly carry a maximum sentence of 6 months: (which is a nice capsule bio). And see the quote from the 1992 NY Times account of the big Fed raid in the second comment. 35 F.B.I. agents! 20 National Guardsmen! I'm hardly neutral -- I have a T. rex T-shirt bought from Larson after he gave a lecture in Tucson, while he was still fighting the charges. He's a good storyteller. If you love dinosaurs and/or hate Federal busybodies, this is the book for you. 4+ stars.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-12-08 00:00:00 Brian Blackman I really liked the skeleton charts in the book that map out the bones found in the Black Hills Institute's t rex fossil finds. I already read another book about the court case involving Sue, but you get more of the defendant's personal experience with this book. This book covers the life in a day as a paleontologist, a legal battle, and scientific theories about t rex that have come out by studying the bones. It is also a memoir of sorts for Pete Larson. I felt the Alice in Wonderland quotes within the chapters to add a little too much to juggle with the switch between the many topics. Just my opinion.