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Dragons and Unicorns: A Natural History
Is it generally safe to walk by dragon weyrs on sunny days? Do dragons really lay golden eggs? Do dragon teeth have any medicinal value? And what about unicorns: Do some rare ones have two horns, and when aren't unicorns white? What is a unicorn "sneeze call," and what exactly is the best way to capture a unicorn, anyway?
Find the answers to these and other questions in this charming and carefully researched book that presents the first scientific look at two of the earth's most mysterious and elusive creatures. From the evolution and anatomy of dragons and unicorns to their own special skills (fire-breathing in dragons, reliable virgin detection in unicorns), this unique book of whimsical zoology, complete with drawings, will delight and enchant any modern reader.
Find the answers to these and other questions in this charming and carefully researched book that presents the first scientific look at two of the earth's most mysterious and elusive creatures. From the evolution and anatomy of dragons and unicorns to their own special skills (fire-breathing in dragons, reliable virgin detection in unicorns), this unique book of whimsical zoology, complete with drawings, will delight and enchant any modern reader.
163 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1982
7 people are currently reading
338 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
July 18, 2022
A nice book with an interesting take on these mythical creatures having different kinds of these species.
March 9, 2020
Great read, most amusing.
October 26, 2019
I have a friend who hates me talking about dragons. This started when I finally got a copy of ‘The Flight of Dragons’ by Peter Dickinson, having been a huge fan of the old Rankin Bass film (which it turned out had very little to do with the book). It’s one of my favourite books and I love the the absolutely stiff-lipped way the book entertains its notions of real dragons, presenting theory, evidence and rebuttal without ever giving the joke away.
I have also enjoyed a few unicorn books, ‘The Natural History of the Unicorn’ by Chris Lavers, and ‘The Lore of the Unicorn’ by Odell Shepard. Both these books are more about how the idea of the unicorn was created and disseminated and the beliefs surrounding them.
For this reason, I was very excited for a book that dealt with both these fascinating creatures and… I was really disappointed.
How pathetic were the dragons in this? The Dickinson style dragons had a whole complicated biology that allowed them to fly like blimps and breath fire when they burnt off the gas to land. This book had little dragons that flew like bats and larger dragons that either created mist or fire because they were filled with farting gas that needed expelling. This farting gas was due to their vegetarian diet and third stomach - vegetarian dragons? Yuck.
The dragons were also too clever. In the Dickinson books they were wily animals but in this they had religion and politics - which allowed the writers to make jokes about a dragon NATO and cold war.
Placing the dragons in the modern day (or at least 1980s) meant there were also gags about dragons being trained by the US military as germ bombs in Vietnam and the cause of a missile crisis. The wink was tipped on the first page by a footnote referencing the Piltdown Man - the lack of a straight face made the book pointless, there’s no fun in acknowledging the unreality of it.
The unicorn bit seemed to go through the motions, using the original Greek description of them, noting how they went from fierce beasts to magical beasts to Christian allegory. There were a few interesting points about how humans have used the idea of the unicorn rather than just letting them be. It was interesting but dealt with better in other unicorn books.
Mostly, this book either repeated stuff from other books or created something less interesting than other books. Where it did succeed was that the authors went into a little more detail into Chinese and Japanese understandings of dragons but it wasn’t enough to make this book feel like it was worth much to me.
I have also enjoyed a few unicorn books, ‘The Natural History of the Unicorn’ by Chris Lavers, and ‘The Lore of the Unicorn’ by Odell Shepard. Both these books are more about how the idea of the unicorn was created and disseminated and the beliefs surrounding them.
For this reason, I was very excited for a book that dealt with both these fascinating creatures and… I was really disappointed.
How pathetic were the dragons in this? The Dickinson style dragons had a whole complicated biology that allowed them to fly like blimps and breath fire when they burnt off the gas to land. This book had little dragons that flew like bats and larger dragons that either created mist or fire because they were filled with farting gas that needed expelling. This farting gas was due to their vegetarian diet and third stomach - vegetarian dragons? Yuck.
The dragons were also too clever. In the Dickinson books they were wily animals but in this they had religion and politics - which allowed the writers to make jokes about a dragon NATO and cold war.
Placing the dragons in the modern day (or at least 1980s) meant there were also gags about dragons being trained by the US military as germ bombs in Vietnam and the cause of a missile crisis. The wink was tipped on the first page by a footnote referencing the Piltdown Man - the lack of a straight face made the book pointless, there’s no fun in acknowledging the unreality of it.
The unicorn bit seemed to go through the motions, using the original Greek description of them, noting how they went from fierce beasts to magical beasts to Christian allegory. There were a few interesting points about how humans have used the idea of the unicorn rather than just letting them be. It was interesting but dealt with better in other unicorn books.
Mostly, this book either repeated stuff from other books or created something less interesting than other books. Where it did succeed was that the authors went into a little more detail into Chinese and Japanese understandings of dragons but it wasn’t enough to make this book feel like it was worth much to me.
December 24, 2015
I loved this book, but I'm taking away a star for the parts on dragon culture, which were irrelevant and not well-detailed. On the whole, I really enjoyed reading the descriptions distilled from various legends and am looking forward to seeing how many species I can spot (erm, well, sort of). I found this book randomly in a bookshop (Twice Told Tales) in Seattle, and I'm so glad I bought it.
April 6, 2021
There are far better books in the mythology-made-scientific genre. I highly recommend Peter Dickinson's The Flight of Dragons.
December 27, 2022
I adored this book. I found this at my grandparents house and had to read it! It was such a fun and magical read. It is written as if dragons and unicorns actually and have existed and such a fun book to follow along with! Also super quick and aesthetic as well.
July 19, 2016
I read this with both a serious "dragons and unicorns are totally real" mindset, as well as a completely skeptical and ready to point out all questionable facts mindset. This, of course, made for a very bipolar reading... half of my notes seem to be saying "well, this is BS, and purely correlation, not causation" while the other half notes interesting facts and mythologies. And that half-and-half aspect I think sums this book up. Parts are quite interesting, and really expanded my knowledge of overall dragon and unicorn mythology and history. Other parts, however, were a bit redundant and repetitive, and provided more of a social commentary, rather than a "real" history. I also found it a bit disproportionate; the unicorn myth section was quite extensive, but the dragon mythos wasn't really discussed. There was also the fact that water dragons, which the authors right off the bat seemed to discredit as "real" dragons, were discussed as if they were real dragons, seemingly just so they could talk about Nessie.
Despite a lot of faults, it was still a fun read, and there are some aspects that I now want to research further. I've never been much of a "fan" of such trite mythic creatures like dragons and unicorns, but after reading this I see a lot more worth in them, and want to learn more!
Despite a lot of faults, it was still a fun read, and there are some aspects that I now want to research further. I've never been much of a "fan" of such trite mythic creatures like dragons and unicorns, but after reading this I see a lot more worth in them, and want to learn more!
August 27, 2022
This is a scientific book exploring a fantasy topic written in academic language.
This book had a wonderful concept and I was very excited to read it. However, there are a few technical issues I had with the story. For example, unicorns are supposed to be about 3.5 feet tall, but are later described to be ridden by humans. It's not a huge deal, I suppose, but it was slightly irritating. Also, I guess one could say that the historical stories aren't meant to be read as fact, but also the line between fiction and reality in this book is particularly thin.
Additionally, I think the section on dragon culture should have been omitted. Once it is established that a community, even of dragons, is intelligent enough to have it's own culture, art, history, and military it becomes very ethically questionable to classify them as animals. I know its fiction, but its supposed to read like academic text. I'm reluctant to think that any scholar would publish this without giving the book its proper ethical consideration.
And why did we have to know that unicorns and humans can have children? Or that dragons can scent virgins? Why?????
This book had a wonderful concept and I was very excited to read it. However, there are a few technical issues I had with the story. For example, unicorns are supposed to be about 3.5 feet tall, but are later described to be ridden by humans. It's not a huge deal, I suppose, but it was slightly irritating. Also, I guess one could say that the historical stories aren't meant to be read as fact, but also the line between fiction and reality in this book is particularly thin.
Additionally, I think the section on dragon culture should have been omitted. Once it is established that a community, even of dragons, is intelligent enough to have it's own culture, art, history, and military it becomes very ethically questionable to classify them as animals. I know its fiction, but its supposed to read like academic text. I'm reluctant to think that any scholar would publish this without giving the book its proper ethical consideration.
And why did we have to know that unicorns and humans can have children? Or that dragons can scent virgins? Why?????
December 16, 2020
The dragon section alternated between being incredibly dry and a bizarre parody of contemporary events (dragon NATO???), but the unicorn section was much more engaging and inspiring. Given that I originally purchased it for the unicorn section, definitely not a wasted 8 bucks at JWD.
January 20, 2024
As a complete biology and mythology geek, this was so fun to read. Reminded me of reading Terry Pratchett, where made up things are taken very seriously, described as they would be in a scholarly text. Loved it!
September 14, 2024
A professor of zoology combines folklore with speculative biology to create this natural history of fantasy creatures. The book has the tone of a scientific text, without being overly dense, and is overall an enjoyable read.
February 5, 2018
I don't know. I found this book trying to hard to make dragons and unicorns seem to real. A little magic and fantasy would have been nice.
March 31, 2016
Dragons and Unicorns: A Natural History is a fictional amalgamation of fantasy, mythology, and history couched as a non-fiction history about these two mythical creatures who, in this book, are not mythical at all but merely--possibly--now extinct or very rare.
I bought this book nearly two decades ago, knowing nothing about it but drawn to it in the bookstore because of my love of unicorns. It has taken me that long to actually, finally sit down and read it. (Motivated more by the idea of reselling some of my books, to clear space, rather than a desperate need to read about the topic at hand.) And once I really put in a concerted effort to read this book, I realized why it had taken me so long to get around to it. Despite the great topic and fun premise, this book is insanely dry and dull to read. And that's why I must have picked it up half a dozen times before and immediately set it back down again. I persevered this time, but not to much end. I found it interesting how the authors took history and mythology and made it into a fictional alternate history. But the presentation was extremely lack-luster.
I bought this book nearly two decades ago, knowing nothing about it but drawn to it in the bookstore because of my love of unicorns. It has taken me that long to actually, finally sit down and read it. (Motivated more by the idea of reselling some of my books, to clear space, rather than a desperate need to read about the topic at hand.) And once I really put in a concerted effort to read this book, I realized why it had taken me so long to get around to it. Despite the great topic and fun premise, this book is insanely dry and dull to read. And that's why I must have picked it up half a dozen times before and immediately set it back down again. I persevered this time, but not to much end. I found it interesting how the authors took history and mythology and made it into a fictional alternate history. But the presentation was extremely lack-luster.
February 23, 2013
Informative in some areas, mostly in the Unicorn section. The Dragon section had little facts, and some seemed very made up to fit the writer's beliefs. If this were more of a fiction book, rather than a "biology" book, then I'd accept what the authors had written for the reader to learn - but it's not.
If you're studying Dragons, I don't recommend this book, though it can be good for comparrison to others to confirm facts; if you're studying Unicorns, this book has a better list of history, and most of the traits mentioned are fact (others questionable).
In a nutshell, if you need multiple resources to confirm fact from fake on Dragons and Unicorns, then this book will be useful. I do not recommend it as a singular study.
If you're studying Dragons, I don't recommend this book, though it can be good for comparrison to others to confirm facts; if you're studying Unicorns, this book has a better list of history, and most of the traits mentioned are fact (others questionable).
In a nutshell, if you need multiple resources to confirm fact from fake on Dragons and Unicorns, then this book will be useful. I do not recommend it as a singular study.
July 6, 2008
I found this to be a singularly frustrating book. If you merely want a whimsical/humorous romp with nothing but a passing nod to mythology, feel free to give it a read and you may enjoy it. Personally, I was hoping for some more solid mythology, and not some poorly thought out evolution of the dragon and unicorn. As a biology undergraduate, this book became even more frustrating, as "A Natural History," it is not.
December 28, 2011
Monday Dec. 19, 2011
I've had this one before but can't remember the details, so i think i shall read it again to refresh my memory (probably last year about this time i think)
xoDaleB.xo
Mon. Dec. 26, 2011
Well, it was just as interesting the second time around...I'd put this on my shelf w/my Graeme Base books
Wish i could spot a few of these on my walks ;oP
xoDaleB.xo
I've had this one before but can't remember the details, so i think i shall read it again to refresh my memory (probably last year about this time i think)
xoDaleB.xo
Mon. Dec. 26, 2011
Well, it was just as interesting the second time around...I'd put this on my shelf w/my Graeme Base books
Wish i could spot a few of these on my walks ;oP
xoDaleB.xo
January 17, 2016
I liked the structure of this book - it attempted to organize the histories of the unicorn and dragon in a manner worthy of a textbook. Obviously, much information was lacking for it to be a true textbook, but I appreciate the attempt. Sometimes, the attempt at "factual narrative" was a little insulting, since general knowledge denies these as facts. But it was an interesting perspective.
November 8, 2007
Not a good book at all. It tries to come off as logical, but it leaves more questions than it answers. It is filled with inconsistencies that further destroy its believeability. It could have been a wonderful book if it had been well done.
March 30, 2011
I did not read the dragon parts but the unicorn section was a good intro. I have most of the books in the bibliography checked out to read as well.
Read
February 21, 2012Dragons and Unicorns: A Natural History by Paul Johnsgard (1992)
October 17, 2013
This was such a fun romp. Very old-fashioned and fusty, and very enjoyably witty anyway.
April 28, 2015
Informative and fun, but too much biology and evolution stuff. I'd rather hear more fairy tales and myths.
March 21, 2024
This book was a staple of my childhood and I am glad to see, coming back to it, it remains amusing.
June 14, 2023
A clever, interesting book, just not quite to my taste.
January 16, 2015
This book just seemed to meander about with no real purpose.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews