'Dinosaurs at the Dinner Table' by Edward Dolnick

 Dinosaurs at the Dinner Table, Edward Dolnick (4.0)

My favorite analogy given for the difficulty of understanding dinosaur fossils in this book: you are working on a jigsaw puzzle with only a couple pieces and no picture to follow. Add to that the understanding of the time that none of God’s creatures could have gone extinct and it’s hard to imagine how anyone would have envisioned the existence of larger than life (as they knew it) reptiles based on a couple of bones. It did take decades and this book does a great job of telling that story. The author clearly walks us through the timeline balancing discoveries with religious dogma. For example, as scientists were finding 1,000s of new species during the mid 1800’s, the story of Noah’s ark was harder and harder to explain. Finding bones that didn’t fit any living creature had many coming up with very creative theories. Not exactly a spoiler, but the discoveries and theories of an unassuming Mr. Darwin helped find the answers.

'Kon Tiki' by Thor Heyerdahl

 Kon Tiki, Thor Heyerdahl (4.0)

I believe I enjoyed this book because I tended to ignore the overall purpose of the voyage and focused on the trip itself. The basis of the trip was considered racist and pseudoscientific both before and certainly afterward. In the late 1940’s Heyerdahl wanted to prove his theory that people from Peru could have crossed the Pacific to Polynesia using the materials available at the time and the winds/currents. Against much push-back from scientists and people familiar with crossing the Pacific, he convinced 5 others to join him and they went across the ocean on a large raft. His rendition of the voyage is riveting. I was most surprised at the number and variety of ocean life that followed them throughout the journey. They seemed fascinated with the raft in their territory and surprisingly more curious than aggressive. This is an interesting true tale of adventure.