The Griffin and the Dinosaur How Adrienne Mayor Discovered a Fascinating Link Between Myth and Science

Could Griffins have been real? When Adrienne Mayor carefully read the ancient Greek and Roman descriptions, this mythic hybrid of a lion and an eagle sounded like something people had actually seen. What could explain that evidence? After a decade of hunting through myths, poring over old maps, and tracing the discoveries of modern dinosaur hunters, she found the answer: awesome dinosaur fossils observed by ancient gold-hunters in the Gobi desert. Here is the story of one insightful, curious, and determined woman who solved the mystery of the Griffin, and invented a new science. Now she and others travel the world matching myths and fossils.

ADRIENNE MAYOR is an independent folklorist/historian of science who investigates natural knowledge contained in pre-scientific myths and oral traditions. The Poison King is Mayor''s latest book, and won top honors (Gold Medal) for Biography, Independent Publishers'' Book Award 2010. It is a 2009 National Book Award Finalist. The History Channel''s "Ancient Monster Hunters" is based on Mayor''s first book. Co-author MARC ARONSON is an award-winning author and editor who earned his doctorate in American History at NYU. A prolific author, a blogger for SLJ, and an innovative thinker on children''s book subjects, Marc brings deep knowledge of how kids relate to information.