“The iguanodon died a long time ago. A really long time ago. Bit of a bummer way to start a story, but hang on.” From the 1822 discovery of a fossilized tooth to the 1878 discovery of full skeletons, to the breakthrough realization in the 1960s that dinosaurs were related to birds, this fascinating and often funny account documents how scientists, artists, and others have used evidence and imagination to make conjectures about and revise their conception and understanding of the creatures known as iguanodons. What did they look like? How did they behave? Early evidence was scant, and concepts were wildly off from what we know today. New discoveries led to new theories that sometimes negated and sometimes expanded what was previously understood. Today, we still have no way of knowing what an iguanodon looked like from the outside, but the work of scientists and artists continues to contribute to our understanding of these creatures, as well as our imaginations. A masterful integration of narrative text and images, this entertaining, informative book is also a terrific primer on scientific investigation. It concludes with the author/artist’s detailed notes about source material and inspiration.

Highlighting the role of artists in the scientific process, this crowd-pleasing look at dinosaurs explores how new discoveries deepen our understanding of the world.

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Ever since mysterious bones were found in 1822, scientists and artists have tried to figure out what the creature they came from looked like. But it seems that every time they've made up their minds, someone makes a new discovery, and they have to start all over. That's only fair, though--after all, it's how knowledge advances!

With an inviting tone and detail-filled art, Sean Rubin traces the process of defining--and redefining--the dinosaur called Iguanodon. Entertaining, accessible, and beautiful, his tale will delight dinosaur fans, budding artists, and anyone curious about how science really works.