Terrible Lizard: The First Dinosaur Hunters and the Birth of a New Science by Deborah Cadbury (PDF)

Description

The dramatic story of the discovery that forever changed man’s perception of his place in the universe.In 1812, the skeleton of a monster was discovered beneath the cliffs of Dorset, setting in motion a collision between science and religion and among scientists eager to claim supremacy in a brand-new field. For Rever William Buckland, an eccentric naturalist at Oxford University, the fossil remains of a creature that existed before Noah’s flood inspired an attempt to prove the accuracy of the biblical record. Gideon Mantell, a naturalist who uncovered giant bones in a Sussex quarry, also became obsessed with the ancient past, risking everything to promote his vision of the lost world of reptiles. Soon the eminent anatomist Richard Owen entered the fray, claiming the credit for the discovery of the dinosaurs.In a fast-paced narrative, Terrible Lizard reveals a strange, awesome prehistoric era and the struggle that set the stage for Darwin’s shattering theories-and for controversies that still rage today

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Well, there was a lull in the first 1/3 of the book, but it picks up steam and towards the end I literally could not put it down. My wife had to keep reminding me that it was time to eat and to put that darned book away! Let me say that if the subject matter interests you, I cannot imagine a better written book. The strentghs are numerous. The book is dramatic, in it gets you to care about poor Gideon Mantell and, whilst showing all of Richard Owen’s legendary near-evil personality, it does also show a more balanced view of this notorious figure in the history of biology/science. But the human touch is the key in both of these figures that the book points out. Another key is the easy, very vernacular language of the book. There is nothing technical and is very easy to read, even for early teens. Also, towards the end the book touches on Owens late battles with Huxley and Darwin. This is a fascinating section where we see the once invicible Owen finally meeting his match in Huxley and the battle that ensues. There is also in the space of about one page about the best, simplest summary of Evolution I’ve ever seen (and I’ve read the Origin of Species twice over). Highly, highly recommended. (for $3-$4 used, what are you waiting for??)

⭐It’s not just about the founding years of paleontology in the 1800s, but the early years of geology in general and how religious dogma carved out the modern geology I studied in my early college years prior to changing majors. It also discusses how egos and traditional societal roles (not just gender roles, but English classes as well) impede the progress of the fledgling sciences. Furthermore, because geology was initially founded to prove the biblical miracles and catastrophes (such as the Great Flood), and paleontology was an extension of that mission, the discovery of long extinct reptiles really threw a monkey wrench into the whole Biblical Geology thing.

⭐Even as the debate rages on today as to whether or not dinosaurs had feathers, paleontology has been rife with speculation and controversy. I never knew just how contankerous the early pioneers in this field were until I picked up this book. Every man and woman involved in the early days of exploration in the newly created field of ‘undergroundology’ is fascinating, and this book brings them all to life. Mary Anning remains the most notable of the fossil hunters. She is larger than life and would make a great character in a movie.

⭐This is the American edition of a book published in England in 2000 or 2001 simply as “The Dinosaur Hunters.”The book is a fairly straight-forward telling of an Anglo-centric version of the dawning of the notion early in the 19th Century that there had been a pre-Adamite world inhabited by large-scale beasts that would in the course of time come to be known as dinosaurs. All the usual British suspects are present:~ Mary Anning, the self-taught woman with the wonderful eye for fossils who went out and retrieved those strange sea-beasts, the icthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, in return for little more than subsistence-level remuneration.~ William Buckland, who obtained formal recognition (in England) of geology as an academic discipline.~ Gideon Mantell, the provincial medico with a passion for geology and big, exotic, long-dead beasts.~ Charles Lyell, whose magnum opus on geology would bear unexpected, long-term fruit, some of which he would find bitter.~ Richard Owen, bright, clever, acquisitive, unforgiving, politically astute, scholarly star player who reached the heights and then had the misfortune to outlive his glory days.~ And a couple of guys named Darwin and Huxley.Such is the Anglo-centric nature of the narrative that the only really significant non-English character is the very, very French Baron Georges Cuvier, a truly international academic superstar. And even he is presented solely in the light of his (generally erroneous) interactions with the main British figures. So Anglo-centric is the author’s account of the recognition of dinosaurs that only mid-way in the book, when Mary Anning finds a fine specimen of a pterodactyl, does Ms. Cadbury casually mention that the first specimen of this weird flying creature had been discovered in Bavaria–by an Italian, no less!–a full fifty years earlier and long-since described in print by Cuvier.Over and above the story of scholars and collectors struggling to see the hitherto unseen and mightily wrestling with wretchedly inadequate and incomplete data to draw conclusions, some dead on and others dead wrong, Ms. Cadbury has seen fit to cast the book as a tale of rivalry, as a decades-long duel between that verray parfit gentil scholar, Gideon Mantell and that all-too successful academic bounder and social climber, Richard Owen. Well … maybe. But the notion of life-long duel is a bit strained when one recollects that Owen died a full forty years after Mantell. On the other hand, Owen did get into undoubted, no holds barred conflict with a far more formidable controversialist and adversary, Thomas Huxley, Darwin’s ferocious attack dog. The net effect of that series of combats was to dropkick Owen from star of scholarship to mere footnote, but Ms. Cadbury simply makes casual reference to their jousting.This book is clearly intended as popular history and is resolutely non-rigorous in both text and citations. As such, it is successful enough within its own terms. For a reader who wants no more than a competently written narrative that introduces a handful of larger-than-life characters and a bit of scientific history, this will do as well as any and better than some.Four stars.

⭐Underrated. Very entertaining and interesting

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