Re: dinosaurs and the media

[Daryl Fuller <Daryl.Fuller@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

As an amateur I give the following observation about the effect of the post-Jurrasic-Park 
media machine on the availability of paleontology books at the local bookstore. Before 
JP, one had to browse the Geology Science section to find ANY Paleo-related books. 
Yesterday, I noticed that a favourite bookstore of mine has a separate category on the 
wall chart, and a separate section for "Paleontology". About 1/2 the available books are 
of Fossils in general, as opposed to Dinosaurs. This means, along with the Dinosaur 
books, there are many general reference books available for the neophyte fossil nuts. I 
feel this increased public awareness of the science is a good thing, as funding should be 
more available if the paying public (taxpayer and turnstile mover) knows what 
Paleontology is. 

Daryl Fuller,
Vancouver, BC
daryl.fuller@bchydro.bc.ca

Carl Zimmer wrote(in part):

> 2.  How do paleontologists who DON'T work with dinosaurs feel about the
> role of dinosaur paleontology? Does it grab too much attention? Or is the
> coverage of their work good for the paleontological community as a whole,
> since it gets the public interested about fossils?
>