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The Dragon Seekers: How An Extraordinary Circle Of Fossilists Discovered The Dinosaurs And Paved The Way For Darwin

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Although not a polished historian or biographer, McGowan (a Canadian paleobiologist) has produced an enjoyable and breezy read on the foundations of modern paleontology and evolution. Imagine the excitement surrounding the first dinosaur finds! It's here. McGowan's emphasis is on the diverse personalities of the "fossilists" (a term I'd never encountered before). The timeline in the text is a little disorganized at times, but then McGowan is juggling quite a number of people across half the 19th century, and what an entertaining bunch they are: Catastrophe Cuvier, Diluvium Buckland, Uniformity Lyell, Iguana Mantell, Faker Hawkins, Deferential Darwin, and first of all Mary Anning. Perhaps their fascinating diversity is due in part to the diversity of education (or lack) described here, in a day before universal education on the Prussian industrial model. McGowan also supplies sufficient description of the fossils themselves to recognize the basic issues in the flaming debates that arose.

Contemporary illustrations are many, varied and useful, many showing the actual original finds, as well as the fossilists. But how can a book on a geological science fail to have a single map? While I'm sure villages like Walton or Street are perfectly familiar to English folk, a map of towns and fossil locales would really help the rest of us. And there's no chronogical chart of the main geological strata mentioned (or see Winchester's The Map That Changed the World). And maybe a gallery of modern versions of the dinosaurs discussed here (no T-Rex, incidentally) would be in order. A selection of the "satirical cartoons" of De la Beche, only mentioned by McGowan, would be intriguing. But I'm just picking nits with a charming book. McGowan adds a personal final chapter, recounting the thrills of responsible modern fossiling in the mecca of Lyme Regis. Source notes, credits, and an index are included.

In the first half of the nineteenth century, the British intelligentsia were having to come to terms with the fossilized bones being dug up by quarrymen or exposed by the waves against the rocky cliffs. The strange creatures thus revealed posed enormous questions about creation, and the theologians quickly got into the debate. However, as the fossilists produced more specimens, and the geologists got acquainted with the enormous span of time required in their discipline, and the paleontologists were able to classify more of the ancient beasts, the pondering on creation came under the light of science rather than theology. Thus when the Theory of Evolution was announced in 1858, Britain was not completely unprepared for its revelations. The foot soldiers of this transformation were the fossilists themselves, and to tell their story, Christopher McGowan, senior curator of paleobiology at the Royal Ontario Museum, has written _The Dragon Seekers: How an Extraordinary Circle of Fossilists Discovered the Dinosaurs and Paved the Way for Darwin_ (Perseus Publishing). It is a fine description of the science versus religion battles of the time, and of how paleontology got started.

There is an eccentric cast of characters within these pages. Thomas Hawkins was a master at getting monstrous specimens displayed, but was really too good at it; he helped his displays with faked bones, a deception whose controversy was elevated to the House of Commons. Gideon Mantell had a hectic medical practice, but it was fossilizing that he loved, and because people thought he was too much of a fossilizer while not enough of a doctor, they stayed away from his practice. He also alienated his wife and family. Although he discovered and named the _Iguanodon_, fossils ruined him. But the most fascinating figure in the book, though, is Mary Anning. She has recognition now as a star discoverer of fossils, but the earliest recognition she got in her own time was, sadly, a eulogy at the Geographic Society. She had no advantages she did not make herself. She was poor, her family was low, and she was, of course, a woman. She was born in Lyme Regis, a seaside hamlet on the Dorset coast, and she got her living digging out the cliff's fossils and selling them to private collectors and to academics. She didn't just collect fossils, she analyzed them and compared them to contemporary animals. She had no access to a formal education, but studied the papers of the published experts, sometimes hand copying them with their drawings so that she could keep them for reference. It was, however, always the "clever men" who formally studied the specimens she discovered, and wrote them up, and named them, often without crediting her. None of her specimens bears her name.

The sensational finds described here sparked heated debates on many issues. Some who believed that God had created all, for instance, insisted that there could be no such thing as an extinction, for that would mean that God had produced some creatures mistakenly. The enormous and ancient beasts found by the fossilists meant that people had to start questioning the usefulness of the Bible as a guide to cosmology. In fact, most of the fossilists described in these pages believed strictly in the Bible, and were unconvinced when Lyell published on geology or Darwin on evolution. McGowan's entertaining book fits them within the social and intellectual history of the period, and shows that although they did not directly pave the way for Darwin, their discoveries put forth evidence to be argued about, and they fostered the learned debate that has resulted in our current understanding of geology and biology.

Christopher McGowan's 'The Dragon Seekers' is an extremely well written and easy to read book about the first discoveries of Dinosaurs. Although the stories of the 'fearful lizards' and of the men (and woman) who discovered them is interesting, the history of evolutionary ideas within is the best part.

The large cast of characters here includes an eccentric but brilliant academic (William Buckland), a scoundrel fossil collector (Thomas Hawkins), a distinguished anatomist (Richard Owen) and a working class woman, deprived of her rightful status because of Victorian social conservatism (Mary Anning).

With the increasing number of fossils discovered, and the increase in knowledge in other areas, Modern science was wrestling itself out of religious dogma, and the arguments about it are the core of this book.

Among the chief arguments at the time was whether the global, Noachian Flood existed, or not. Great disputes about these question took place, between supporters and the so called anti-Diluvians, who opposed it .

An even greater controversy was the one surrounding evolution ('transmutation' in the vernacular). Transmutationism was a bona fide heresy, and when the young Charles Darwin enters McGowan's narrative, he has to hide his views from Richard Owen, a great scientist who coined the very term 'Dinosaur', but whose opposition to transmutation was well known.

One of the major advantages of this book is the way in which it can forgive the scientists for their errors. Although McGowan clearly points out the mistakes, and how the likes of Owen, Buckland and Charles Lyell (who was a major influence, and a confident, of Darwin's) allowed their pre conceived notions to deter them from reaching the truth, he discusses how it is that science advances despite these failures. The errors and pre-conceived notions of individuals can hinder science, but the setbacks are merely temporary, and these scientists, for all their errors, held lay down the ground for Darwin's breathtaking insights.

My one greatest regret for this book is that it does not include the reaction of the surviving 'dragon seekers' to Darwin's 'The Origin of Species'. Richard Owen's responses, especially, would have been very interesting, and would have made an interesting summation for the book.

Instead, McGowan chooses to dedicate his conclusion to today's collectors, the followers of Mary Anning's. It is both interesting and moving, as McGowan has studies fossils discovered in the very beaches were the Anning and co. have worked. So modern paleontologists, too, depend upon the newest generation of dragon seekers

Dragon Seekers is a well-written and informative account of the times and main figures around the founding of palaeontology as a science in Britain, from the early 19th century, until the publishing of The Origin of Species. It covers the discoveries of the first dinosaur fossils, such as Megalosaurs, Ichthyosaurus, and Plesiosaurus and the politics of displacing the contemporary creation theory that was accepted as the truth at the time.

McGowan covers the story of the dragon seekers impartially, even in the case of some of the more dubious individuals. He has researched the book well. The bibliography is most helpful. The book includes a small number of illustrations. I feel that a few more could have been included.

I enjoyed reading this book, finding it engaging and easy to read. I strongly recommend Dragon Seekers to people who have an interest in science history or palaeontology.

As other reviewers have said, "The Dragon Seekers" is a very good read. For one thing, it helps us see the men and women who laid down the foundation for our current understanding of the Mesozoic world in the light of their own time and place. Mary Anning is seen as both the curious self-taught person she was and the commercial collector that she had to be to make a living. Richard Owen, who later tarnished his reputation as the heavy in the struggle against Darwin's theories, is seen here as a brilliant young anatomist who was right more often than wrong. The other actors in the drama, Mantell (who was a social reformer as well as scientist,) the quirky Buckland and aggressive Hawkins, as well as lesser players like De la Beche and Conybeare are shown with all the strengths and weaknesses of their very human nature.

Indeed, one impression that one immediately gets from McGowan's book is that it is not wise to dismiss the contributions of scientists who may turn out to be spectacularly wrong about something else. Darwin himself misinterpreted the Glen Roy terraces and Agassiz (who was wrong about evolution) was in this case right in his glacial interpretation. Lamark is known for the failure of his inheritance of acquired characteristics theory but is seldom given credit for his brilliant remake of invertebrate classification. In truth, science probably progresses as much or more by the work of its "lesser" practitioners, as by a fictitious few geniuses who are always right. The sciences are plagued by all the human failings that other professions are and even the "best" scientist may be gloriously mistaken, while the "worst" may come up with an important breakthrough. McGowan has presented us here with a more balanced view of these seekers after knowledge and I think we may be the better for it.

Read "The Dragon Seekers" if you wish to understand how science often really works and the history of true dawn of vertebrate paleontology.

The stories of the early "fossilists" and how they interacted with each other in 19th century Britian. Perhaps in a bit more detail sometimes than needed but overall a very good book. Mary Anning,her Icthyosaurs and the men who took advantage of her to make their own names are prominent.
Especially interesting is the story of Richard Owen, the brilliant anatomist, heir to Cuvier himself, the man who named "Dinosauria," a staunch conservative and ardent fundamentalist, who unwittingly was seminal to Darwin forming many of his most important conclusions on species origins and evolution! Darwin knew what was coming and kept his mouth shut until "On the Origins..." was done!!
McGowan writes well and keeps it moving. Not five stars because the story could have used a little humor.

A facinating historical account of important fossil finds in nineteenth century England. Extensively researched and expertly presented. A great insight into a period when basic understanding of the fossil record was developing fast. Interesting notes on the role of contempory collectors and institutions. All in all a good read which will appeal to a wide range of readers. Certainly not your average fossil book.

19th century England serves as the setting for this survey of the findings of the first fossilists during a time when geological insights were rapidly changing. The Dragon Seekers tells how the 'dragon seekers' discovered the first dinosaur fossils, from a working class woman who was determined to enter gentlemen's clubs and become a fossilist to an amateur collector who enjoyed faking fossils. These early, unlikely pioneers held heated public debates on geology and fossils and their discoveries and discussions helped change the world - this shows how.