The Artist and the Scientists
Bringing Prehistory to Life

Through science, art and personal recollection, this book recounts the evolution of prehistoric life.

Peter Trusler (Author), Patricia Vickers-Rich (Author), Thomas H. Rich (Author)

9780521162999, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 3 September 2010

322 pages, 94 b/w illus. 96 colour illus.
27.9 x 21.6 x 2.1 cm, 1.04 kg

'It would be easy to dismiss the 'interpretive' art of hand illustration as a practice from a bygone era … Spend some time with this book and you'll change your mind …' American Paleontologist

The Artist and the Scientists: Bringing Prehistory to Life presents the extraordinary lives and works of eminent paleontologists Patricia Vickers-Rich and Tom Rich, and Peter Trusler, one of the finest artists of scientific realism Australia has produced. Over more than thirty years, Patricia, Tom and Peter have travelled across Eastern Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa, Australia and New Zealand in search of the remains of early life, including fish, dinosaurs, birds and mammals. Their successful expeditions, and the many publications and exquisite artworks that have ensued, are a testament to their scientific methodology, thirst for knowledge and eye for detail. The book follows the development of selected works of art covering the last 600 million years of the geological record. Told from the viewpoints of both scientist and artist, the reader is given a unique insight into the process of preserving and recording the evolution of prehistoric life.

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Geologic time
Introduction
1. A new paint box
2. The dragon chasers
3. The beginning: Bacchus Marsh Diprotodon
4. The art of the fossil book
5. Dinosaurs from China
6. Wildlife of Gondwana
7. The dinosaurs of darkness
8. A Moa mummy: a classic dissection
9. Magnificent Mihirungs
10. Where the wind bites: Patagonia
11. The rise of animals: back to the Precambrian
12. Chinese and Australian Mesozoic mammals
13. The last of the mob
14. The art of humour and enchantment
Conclusions
Glossary
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Palaeontology [RBX], Earth sciences [RB]