Dr. Alan Grant

Alan Grant is a rugged paleontologist who first earned fame for his work on fossilized dinosaur nests in Montana. He provides one of the main perspectives for the novel and is the primary protagonist. Alan is introduced as being a “barrel-chested” man who is forty years old. Dr. Grant is a paleontologist at the University of Denver who sees himself as an outdoors man. He dislikes academic dress, talk and snobbery, preferring to do his research in jeans and T-shirts. Much of the background information that readers receive about dinosaurs is from Alan’s observations and memories.

Alan enjoys having Tim and Alexis Murphy, the grandkids of John Hammond, on the island and protects them several times against dinosaur attacks. Alan admits to liking children, especially the reaction kids have to dinosaur skeletons in museums. He is impressed with Tim Murphy’s knowledge of dinosaurs and...