The Dragon Seekers
How an Extraordinary Circle of Fossilists Discovered the Dinosaurs and Paved the Way for Darwin

A splendid little book about the history of paleontology. I've read so many of these books through the years about the same characters, but I just can't seem to get enough of them.......more

Somewhat of a collection of mini-biographies of early 19th century fossil seekers who’s discoveries, observations and conclusions develop the beginnings of Geology and Paleontology, and kind of lay the path for the ideas of evolution and extinction by Darwin that would shortly follow. In the backgro......more

I picked up this book with the intent to gain a more historically accurate look at the life of Mary Anning (having just read a fictionalized account of her life in Remarkable Creatures). Although at times academic and somewhat technical, it was engaging, flowed well, and was highly readable. I found......more

Ancient bones and magnets were both known to antiquity, but not until the 19th century did their importance begin to be realized. Attribute that to a quickly-developing worldview that regarded these things not as curiosities to be put aside with a pat explanation, but mysteries that needed to be sol......more