A review by librarianonparade
The Dinosaur Hunters by Deborah Cadbury
4.0
I originally picked this book up last year, after visiting Lyme Regis, in the hope of learning more about Mary Anning and her fossil discoveries in Lyme that paved the way for the 'discovery' of the dinosaurs. Sadly, she features very little in this book - it is very much more about the British scientists who first began to examine fossils with a scientific eye, with an attempt to classify them and place them in an historical and geological spectrum.
Obviously fossils had long been scientific curiosities, and in other places around the world giant bones and skeletons had been emerging from the earth for centuries. But it wasn't really until the advent of the science of geology that scientists began to examine what remains of creatures embedded within rock actually meant, what the different layers of rock signified about different eras in history, and how this new fossil record cast doubt on the Biblical explanation of human history. Two British scientists were at the forefront of these discoveries - Gideon Mantell and Richard Owen, the latter being the man who coined the term 'dinosaur'.
This book is written very much as an account of the scientific progress and rivalry of these two men - Mantell the earlier, unheralded discoverer of many of the most significant fossil finds, Owen the man who built on (and in some cases stole, or at the very least heavily plagiarised) Mantell's discoveries to achieve wealth, esteem and scientific recognition for himself. Owen is very much the villain in this book! Other well-known figures from 19th century science make an appearance - Mary Anning, who found the first ichthyosaurus skeleton that began the whole affair; Charles Lyell; Charles Darwin; William Buckland; Georges Cuvier.
It was an interesting read, although not quite the book I was hoping for. Knowing next to nothing about, and with even less interest in, geology, rock strata and scientific classification, I found this a bit tedious on occasion, but the human interest of the narrative kept me reading.
Obviously fossils had long been scientific curiosities, and in other places around the world giant bones and skeletons had been emerging from the earth for centuries. But it wasn't really until the advent of the science of geology that scientists began to examine what remains of creatures embedded within rock actually meant, what the different layers of rock signified about different eras in history, and how this new fossil record cast doubt on the Biblical explanation of human history. Two British scientists were at the forefront of these discoveries - Gideon Mantell and Richard Owen, the latter being the man who coined the term 'dinosaur'.
This book is written very much as an account of the scientific progress and rivalry of these two men - Mantell the earlier, unheralded discoverer of many of the most significant fossil finds, Owen the man who built on (and in some cases stole, or at the very least heavily plagiarised) Mantell's discoveries to achieve wealth, esteem and scientific recognition for himself. Owen is very much the villain in this book! Other well-known figures from 19th century science make an appearance - Mary Anning, who found the first ichthyosaurus skeleton that began the whole affair; Charles Lyell; Charles Darwin; William Buckland; Georges Cuvier.
It was an interesting read, although not quite the book I was hoping for. Knowing next to nothing about, and with even less interest in, geology, rock strata and scientific classification, I found this a bit tedious on occasion, but the human interest of the narrative kept me reading.