After finishing Bill Bryson's 'A Short History of Nearly Everything', I wanted to find out more about the palaeontologists he had discussed in one of his chapters. In particular, I had been enthralled by the rivalry between Richard Owen and Charles Lyle. I looked in the bibliography for Bryson's book and Christopher McGowan's The Dragon Seekers looked to be the viable option for finding out more without breaking the bank.
McGowan, a geologist himself, writes a clear and measured account of the lives and careers of the most notable geologists of the nineteenth century, starting with Mary Anning, arguably one of the most important and influential women in scientific history. From then on, however, the figures discussed become very much a boy's own club, with biographies of Owen, Lyell and the frankly mental Dr Buckland. Darwin enters the fray towards the book's conclusion and we learn of the influence his mentor, Owen, had on his theory of evolution (despite his influence, Darwin was forced to keep his ideas quiet around Owen, who vehemently opposed the idea of the transmutation of species).
The book describes science by way of history and also adds social context and information about political arguments of the time, providing the reader with an unfussy, accurate account of the lives and times of these extraordinary people. Unfortunately, the book is somewhat dry throughout and there are fewer madcap anecdotes than Bryson had led me to believe.
However, anyone with more than a passing interest in geology, dinosaurs, the history of scientific enquiry, palaeontology, evolution and social structures in the nineteenth century should find this book interesting and enlightening. And that surely encompasses most people, right?
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