The Fossil Hunter: Dinosaurs, Evolution, and the Woman Whose Discoveries Changed the World

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The Fossil Hunter: Dinosaurs, Evolution, and the Woman Whose Discoveries Changed the World

3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 · rating details · 135 ratings · 28 reviews

Mary Anning was only twelve years old when, in 1811, she discovered the first dinosaur skeleton--of an ichthyosaur--while fossil hunting on the cliffs of Lyme Regis, England. Until Mary's incredible discovery, it was widely believed that animals did not become extinct. The child of a poor family, Mary became a fossil hunter, inspiring the tongue-twister, “She Sells Sea She...more

Hardcover, 256 pages

Published October 13th 2009 by Palgrave Macmillan

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Aug 26, 2012 Mhd rated it 2 of 5 stars

It had such promise: little known story of Mary Anning, a very early female fossil hunter in England in the early 1800s. I read only about 30%, but I was just too mad/disappointed to continue. I don't need to repeatedly read how poor she was, the first 5 times were enough. I know there aren't many colorful facts from that time period surviving, but don't fill up space with imagination about environment: we don't know what the house looked like but it might have had green shutters??? And I was re...more

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May 09, 2012 Elsie Hulsizer rated it 4 of 5 stars

This biography of the woman who unearthed the first Ichthyosaurus is both a deeply moving personal story of the overcoming of poverty and illiteracy and a fascinating history of the period immediately preceding Darwin’s Origin of Species.

Mary Anning of Lyme Regis, England laid the groundwork for the theory of evolution by her relentless efforts to chisel fossils out of the chalk cliffs of Southern England. Pushed by the need to earn a living from the sale of fossils and spurred on by the steady...more

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Jun 15, 2011 marianne rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book tells the fascinating story of Mary Anning, a woman who made several important early fossil finds of dinosaurs and other creatures on the southern coast of England in the early to mid 1800s. Mary had just a few years' formal education and was largely a self-made paleontologist - however, because of her status as a woman (and as a very poor woman, even), she both never received the recognition she deserved nor her due place alongside her male contemporaries in the science world. As a wo...more

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Dec 29, 2010 Friederike Knabe rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

In 1999, the two hundredth birthday of Mary Anning, "the first woman geologist", was marked with a modest celebratory event in the small Philpot Museum in her home town, Lyme Regis, on England's southern shore. It led, eventually, to renewed interest in the life and time of this unique young woman, who despite being of the poorest background and without formal education, contributed in the most extraordinary way to the advancement of science and understanding of life on earth. Shelley Emling, re...more In 1999, the two hundredth birthday of Mary Anning, "the first woman geologist", was marked with a modest celebratory event in the small Philpot Museum in her home town, Lyme Regis, on England's southern shore. It led, eventually, to renewed interest in the life and time of this unique young woman, who despite being of the poorest background and without formal education, contributed in the most extraordinary way to the advancement of science and understanding of life on earth. Shelley Emling, researching Mary Anning's life, and basing herself on available contemporary sources, such as correspondence, notebooks and news items, as well as on a range of science research materials on the early days of geology and paleontology, has added an engaging and accessible biography to the mix of materials on Mary Anning and her work. Set against the emerging and often acrimonious scientific debates on the evolution of live, the literal veracity of the Bible - several decades prior to Charles Darwin's The Origin Of Species: 150th Anniversary Edition - the author also delves into the society's political life and social conditions and introduces other important public figures and scientists that were influenced by Mary Anning's finds and/or played an important role in her life.

Born in 1799, Mary had discovered (with her brother) and excavated the first complete ichthyosaur at the age of 12. Taught since early childhood by her enthusiastic amateur fossil hunting father, a cabinet maker, she developed an extraordinary skill not only in identifying the locations in the cliffs' rocks or mud formations where prehistoric fossils could be found, she taught herself the scientific bases she needed to identify and classify her finds. She cleaned, preserved and presented her finds with meticulous precision, produced high quality drawings, and over her lifetime, became an essential resource for "gentlemen geologists", and other collectors of fossils. The rich diversity of creatures that had lived in the region around Lyme Regis, in either land or water or both, millions of years ago raised many questions and challenged the religious beliefs of the time.

The first decades of the nineteenth century were also a time when women's contribution to science was unheard of and usually discounted. Women were not even viewed as having the kind of brain that could process and, even less, produce scientific thought and analysis. All evidence suggests, however, that Mary was an adventurous young girl and grew into a young woman who, eager to educate herself, was not afraid to speak her mind, even though this was not at all the norm for somebody from the lower classes. As her scientific knowledge increased, so did the depth of her conversations with the male scientists and, with it, grew her frustration with the treatment she received from the science community: there was no public recognition for her eminent contributions to the scientific discoveries and debates; fossils were identified by the buyer than the finder. Even those closest to her, like William Buckland and Henry de la Beche, whom she regarded as her friends and who had been buying and relying on her fossils, or assisted her in selling them to museums around the country and beyond, and, at times, otherwise supported her financially, did only fully recognize their indebtedness to her work publicly until after her death in 1847.

Given the scarcity of original sources that shed light on many aspects of Mary Anning's life, Emling's biography has to rely on creative imagination and conjecture, especially where she imagines Mary's thinking and views of her life and the role she played in the society of "gentlemen geologists" and other scientists. While the author is careful to distinguish between fact and speculation on her part, the extensive use of the conditional tense, often combined with "probable", "likely", etc. can become somewhat tedious to the reader. Nonetheless, the story is written in a flowing and easy-going storytelling style, bringing this biography closer to the two novels, written around the same time in 2009/10: Tracy Chevaliers' Remarkable Creatures and Joan Thomas's Curiosity.

Having read both novels about Mary Anning first, I was curious to compare the fictionalization of her character with the biography of Emling. Without wanting to reveal parallels and differences, I must say, that Emling's biography is a good additional source for anybody interested in Mary Anning's role in paleontology, the society in which she lived and the important debates that swirled around science and religion at the time. It also lays to rest any curiosity the reader might have about any romance that Mary may have experienced...(less)

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May 13, 2010 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 19th-century, 2010, archaeology, biography, family-relationships, friendship, science, survival, small-town

I recently read Tracy Chevalier’s newest book Remarkable Creatures, the story of Mary Anning, a woman I had never heard of but is getting the attention she so richly deserved. I enjoyed Remarkable Creatures so much I was very happy to learn of this biography of her life. For anyone who doesn’t normally like nonfiction I would recommend this book, it is written in a very accessible style and the story is so astonishing it reads like fiction. Emling has written a book that I found easy to read and...more I recently read Tracy Chevalier’s newest book Remarkable Creatures, the story of Mary Anning, a woman I had never heard of but is getting the attention she so richly deserved. I enjoyed Remarkable Creatures so much I was very happy to learn of this biography of her life. For anyone who doesn’t normally like nonfiction I would recommend this book, it is written in a very accessible style and the story is so astonishing it reads like fiction. Emling has written a book that I found easy to read and hard to put down.

Mary Anning was born in 1799 and lived in the Lyme Regis area of England her entire life; she learned to fossil hunt as a small child, at that time a fossil was anything dug out of the ground, most of Mary’s fossils finds were ammonites. Living on the very edge of poverty and barely literate she became one of the most renowned paleontologists of her time. At the age of 11 she found the first entire fossil skeleton of an ichthyosaur; a fossil that is still on display in the Natural History Museum in London. This find was the first step in the eventual theory of evolution by Darwin, who used Mary’s finds and works extensively in his Origin of the Species.

The fact that Mary found this one specimen would be pretty astonishing, but she also discovered the first complete plesiosaurus, the first pterosaur (pterodactyl), a new fossil fish (Squaloraja), along with many other smaller finds. With all this she is barely known today and was often overlooked or not credited during her lifetime – most likely because she was a woman and the scientific community at that time was male dominated. Although she had many well known friends in the geological world during her lifetime she was never accorded the accolades, respect or monetary earnings these men achieved. She died at the age of 48, from breast cancer, and is largely unknown today. Although most of us have recited the ‘She sells sea shells on the seashore’ tongue twister how many of us knew it was written about this amazing woman? A very good read and one I would recommend to anyone wishing to learn about the first baby steps of understanding evolution.

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Feb 16, 2013 Brooke rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mary Anning is is a woman who deserves to be known more widely than she is. Unfortunately, I do not think this is the book to bring her attention and recognition. Emling has an enjoyable and easy to read style of writing but the problem for me was the speculative nature of the text. As a non-fiction biography/history, I found it problematic to read, sometimes times on a single page, "she would of", "she surely", "she might have", "she possibly". The passive nature of these phrases is troubling....more

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Feb 15, 2012 Kiki rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have wanted to read this book for some time. I was not disappointed! If you've read Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures (which I have, and loved), you should really enjoy this non-fictionalized version of the story of Mary Anning's life and work. This woman from a very humble background spent her life digging through the treacherous cliffs of Lyme Regis, England, searching for fossils. Though she made many important discoveries, surpassing those of most of her male colleagues, little credit...more

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Apr 19, 2010 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a book about Mary Anning. What?!? You’ve never heard of her? But she discovered the first ichthyosaur; the first plesiosaur, too. She was well-known throughout Europe in the early 1800’s. In fact, Charles Dickens himself wrote an article about her. The tongue-twister, “She sells sea-shells by the sea-shore” was inspired by her.

Still doesn’t ring a bell? Well, no surprise there. I’d never heard of her, and I’m into this sort of stuff. It’s a pity that the woman who made so many great disc...more This is a book about Mary Anning. What?!? You’ve never heard of her? But she discovered the first ichthyosaur; the first plesiosaur, too. She was well-known throughout Europe in the early 1800’s. In fact, Charles Dickens himself wrote an article about her. The tongue-twister, “She sells sea-shells by the sea-shore” was inspired by her.

Still doesn’t ring a bell? Well, no surprise there. I’d never heard of her, and I’m into this sort of stuff. It’s a pity that the woman who made so many great discoveries should be so forgotten. I was thrilled to stumble upon a book that might help rescue Mary Anning from obscurity.

Unfortunately, the circumstances that allowed Mary to sink into oblivion are the very reasons that this book is largely unsuccessful. Mary Anning was poor, had little formal education and adhered to a Dissenter faith. Worst of all, she was a woman, she was plain, and she was an old maid.

It’s a miracle that she overcame all of this to become a relatively well-known paleontologist in her day. She had to work harder than anyone else to do so, though, and that didn’t leave her any time to write journals or autobiographies. Few others felt motivated to write about her either (Dickens being one of the notable exceptions, but of course, he of all people would appreciate a Dickensian story of beating the odds).

Perhaps most detrimental of all, because she wasn’t even allowed to be a member of the Geological Society of London (women weren’t admitted until 1904), her discoveries had to be presented to that body by men, men that would, more often than not, be given credit for her discoveries. Occasionally, one of these famous (male) geologists would kindly mention Mary Anning in his writings, but it always had a subtle hint of condescension.

All of this leaves very little in the way of records about Mary, which, over time, has allowed her to fade into anonymity. Sadly, this has also left little for author Shelley Emling to draw upon, forcing her to resort all too often to supposition. Mary likely did this, and probably felt that. She might have done this, but she might have done that. All Emling can give us is a shadowy reflection of who Mary Anning might have been. After reading the book, all 213 pages of it, I felt like I hardly knew Mary Anning at all. And that is a real shame. Mary Anning deserves better.(less)

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Jun 13, 2012 Lee rated it 3 of 5 stars

A good and accessible read about a woman who should be better known. There are limited sources to draw on for Mary Anning's life but the book uses more general information about the period, in addition to what is known, to build a good picture. Anning would continue to be overlooked as she was in her lifetime if this approach was not taken, given that she left virtually no writings of her own (her lower class background and lack of formal education contributed to this). If you enjoyed Tracey Ch...more

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Oct 27, 2011 Probibliophile rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

The subject matter was very interesting, the writing not. The beginnings of geology and the importance of understanding fossils to the cultural history of the 19th century are more interesting, and the book seemed to perk up in the coda, after Anning's death. The author was a journalist and the book contains a lot of journalistic cliches.The author's assimilation of research is always a difficulty in books of this type and this was no exception. There is a lot of "Mary must have", "Mary and her...more

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Jul 13, 2011 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the biography of Mary Anning, born in Lyme Regis in 1799. A poor woman with little education, she began searching for fossils in the shore with her father. She went on to find many of the greatest fossils at the time, advancing the field of paleontology (geology at the time). Little recognized, this book tells her fascinating story.
Because little is known about Mary Anning, the author has had to rely on phrases such as "she might of," "she probably," "undoubtedly, she would..." It makes...more

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Feb 04, 2012 Noel rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People interested in the history of science, women's history or natural history

Shelves: geology-paleontology

"The fossil Hunter" explores the life of Mary Anning, a lower-class woman from the south of England who changed paleontology with her numerous and spectacular fossil finds. One of the main themes of the book, and Mary Anning's life, was her relationship with many of the professional paleontologists of England, who were invariably well-educated and rich. Many of these paleontologists respected Mary as a skilled and knowledgable fossil hunter and paleontologist. However, they never gave her credit...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Katie is currently reading it · review of another edition

I chose to read a non-fiction biography of Mary Anning's life prior to reading Tracy Chevalier's novelisation Remarkable Creatures. However, it's already apparent this isn't a "hard" biography - rife with phrases like "perhaps" and "probably". The author also makes what seem to be unsubstantiated emotional statements. However, this was on the recommended reading list for my History of Geology course, so my professor must have seen value in the facts as presented.

As a Jane Austen fan, I've of cou...more

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Sep 02, 2011 Sally rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: paleontology

Despite a few narrative flaws, this is an absolutely fascinating story of a young woman doesn’t get the social or scientific recognition she deserves. Coming in, I knew just enough about Mary Anning to want to know more. I knew she was the subject of Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures(which is next on my reading list), but I wanted to start with something more straightforwardly biographical, before moving into the novelised version of her life.

Since I don’t want them to be the focus of my re...more Despite a few narrative flaws, this is an absolutely fascinating story of a young woman doesn’t get the social or scientific recognition she deserves. Coming in, I knew just enough about Mary Anning to want to know more. I knew she was the subject of Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures(which is next on my reading list), but I wanted to start with something more straightforwardly biographical, before moving into the novelised version of her life.

Since I don’t want them to be the focus of my review, let me quickly do away with those narrative flaws I mentioned. Emling’s biography is unflinching and unapologetic in its honestly . . . it’s a story full of words like maybe, perhaps, probably, and likely. As readers, I think we come into a biography understanding that the author cannot possibly know every detail of every moment of the subject’s life with. There’s an unspoken agreement between reader and author to that effect, a silent understanding that there will necessarily be liberties in detail and dialogue. Calling attention to those grey areas at every turn was just distracting.

The other flaw is that the book tends to ramble sometimes, diverting into tangents that, as interesting as they are on their own, interrupt the flow of Mary’s story. Granted, some of these diversions are lengthy, but most of them could have been better served as footnotes or supplementary material at the end. Some readers might not mind the diversions, but it was Mary I came to read about, and it was Mary upon whom I wanted to remain focused.

As soon as you begin to understand a little about Mary Anning, you’ll also understand why those diversions are so distracting. Mary is an icon, a heroine, and a legend. As a self-taught, independent, young woman she made discoveries that put her highly-educated, well-supported, male peers to shame. She had an instinctive understanding of the fossils and bones she was finding, and could immediately envision the prehistoric monstrosities those tiny pieces should form. On more than one occasion, stuffy old scientists and palaeontologists adamantly declared that she was wrong, accusing her of fraud, only to be proven wrong on every occasion.

The fact that Mary got into fossil hunting merely to support her family, following in the footsteps of her beloved (and equally amateur father) just adds to the legend. As a woman, she never received proper credit for any of her discoveries, and could not attend any of the meetings where they were celebrated and discussed. Despite that, the greatest scientific minds of her time understood what a treasure they had in Mary, and many of them sought her out to walk the shore, to experience her gift, and to discuss her finds.

Neither able not permitted to pursue higher education, Mary educated herself, reading whatever she could her hands on, and exploring the practical applications of that knowledge. Far more worried about paying rent on their small cottage, and with feeding her mother and her siblings, she sacrificed the fame and fortune that she could have easily earned as a man, not to mention the love she must have craved as a human being, simply to provide.

It’s amazing to think that, even as Charles Darwin was embarking upon The Beagle, yet to even conceive, much less write, The Origin of Species, this young woman was discovering dinosaurs that even the most educated minds couldn’t fathom. Had I the gift of time travel, I would love nothing more than to spend a day upon the beach, scavenging for fossils with Mary as my guide. Never afraid to get dirty, and more respectful than afraid of the tides that (more than once) brought ruin to Lyme Regis, she must have been an awe-inspiring figure.

Mary’s story is, in a word, amazing. It’s not just the story of a self-taught palaeontologist, a pioneer in her field, but the story of a self-made woman, a revolutionary in her gender. She is a woman who deserves to be recognized on both fronts, and her story here pays equal attention to both aspects of her extraordinary character. Of course, this is also a story full of fascinating details about dinosaurs, fossils, and the scientific process of the 19th century, which just makes it that much more compelling.(less)

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May 17, 2011 Florida Museum rated it 4 of 5 stars

The FLMNH book club read this book in February 2011.
This book is supposed to be the historical account of the life of Mary Anning, the first female fossil hunter. However, there was a lot of "She may have done..." "We suspect she may have done..." A lot of speculation, which was a slight disappointment.

The guest speaker was Andy Hastings, Graduate Student in Vertebrate Paleontology.

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Mar 07, 2011 Eric_W marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Recommended to Eric_W by: Natalie

Natalie's reviews of

and

peaked my interest in Mary Anning. See http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

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Oct 15, 2010 Lisa Higgins rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelley Emling is such an excellent writer of narrative fiction that this book -- really a biography of a 19th century lower-class female fossil hunter -- reads like the best of novels. Great detail, wonderful character, and an interesting look at some of the geological work that was done in the early 19th century, before the word "dinosaur" was even coined.

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Jul 03, 2010 Tina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

This book and the "She Sells Sea Shells" tongue twister is written about Mary Anning, born in 1799. Mary's father was a fossil hunter and Mary joined him at a young age, finding many extraordinary fossils throughout her lifetime. It was an interesting book, even though it was biased towards evolutionary beliefs. I enjoyed discussing the book with my geologist husband who recognized some of the scientists mentioned in the book.

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Feb 07, 2010 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a short biography of Mary Annings, a fossil collector in the early 1800s. Mary's achievements are made all the more remarkable because she was a poor women working in a field that was controlled by wealthy gentlemen. The biography is easy to read and enjoyable. If you like other geology books, such as Simon Winchester's, you'll enjoy this book.

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Mar 24, 2012 Nathan rated it 3 of 5 stars

The writing was a bit awkward, but this book provides a good overview of my favorite unsung scientist, Mary Anning. Mary was a self-taught woman living in Lyme Regis England whose major contributions to paleontology are largely unrecognized due to the refusal of men to acknowledge the efforts of women during her time.

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Mar 01, 2010 Rick Jones rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the more satisfying of the two books about Mary Anning out this year....More context, more accurate, to me, more enjoyable to learn about MA's place in Victorian science. Remarkable Creatures..the other book, is tarted up, and a novelization. Enjoyable, but there wasn't so much a need for it as this one.

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Apr 18, 2013 Lesley rated it 1 of 5 stars

i couldn't read more than the first few chapters. this was a truly awful book full of 'might haves' and 'may haves'. very short on substance. There are much better books on Mary Anning..Deborah Cadbury's Dinosaur Hunters is a much better example.

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Oct 25, 2012 Robert Kaufman rated it 5 of 5 stars

I find this book useful when teaching my classes about Darwin. The information is a great addition and makes the lesson appeal to a wider audience.

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Mar 14, 2010 Katy Meldau Cummings rated it 3 of 5 stars

Fascinating life. Struck by lightning as a child, haunted by ever present poverty, alone, unrecognized and unloved, Mary Anning maintained a devotion to a work that would build a scientific revolution. I found myself disappointed in some of the writing. I would have liked her incredible life to get the same polished presentation she gave to all her fossils. But for me it was still worth the read. I am glad to have the chance to become more familiar with this great woman. The world deserves to kn...more

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Feb 03, 2013 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Very soft and endearing approach to the evolution debate. The story took precedence over any (modern day) politics.

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Dec 19, 2011 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Fascinating and well written. Mary Anning was true pioneer.

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Mar 14, 2010 Molly Brodak rated it 1 of 5 stars

SHOULD have been fascinating...good material, bad writer.

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Jan 07, 2011 prairiesister rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed reading about the true story of Mary Anning. What a fabulous mind, and how sad she was continually ignored by male-dominated science, although they used her mind over and over. Very good read.

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Apr 27, 2013 Monika rated it 5 of 5 stars

Great book. Fascinating true story. Could not put it down.

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May 21, 2013 Ron rated it 4 of 5 stars

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About Shelley Emling

Shelley Emling has been a journalist for 20 years. She was born in Missouri. Later she grew up in Dallas, Texas. She went to the University of Texas and started her journalism career at UPI.

Shelley is the author of two books: Your Guide to Retiring in Mexico, and most recently, The Fossil Hunter, published by Macmillan in 2009 about paleontologist Mary Anning, whom Shelley had learned of while on...more

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