Valley of the dragons: The story of New Zealand's dinosaur woman

by Joan Wiffen

In the 1970s an amateur palaeontologist, Joan Wiffen, began making discoveries from a remote site in the hill country of Hawke's Bay. By 1982 she had conclusively proved that dinosaurs had once lived in New Zealand.This is her story. It is the story of how an ordinary housewife upon retirement decided that she wanted to do something different with her life. Her husband's night classes in geology became the unlikely starting point of an adventure that would enentually lead to international acclaim and recognition. After years of exacting research, often in appalling conditions, her discoveries have revolutionised our thinking about our past. To many people she is simply known as the 'Dinosaur Woman'.

Genres: Autobiography, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Rachel (Sfogs) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very interesting. Full of information on fossils. Geology students etc will find it full of information. Though it was very interesting to see the reaction of the established scientists, to the find of the terrestrial dinosaur fossils. If they weren't thought to be there then they can't be there, so the people who found the fossils must just be wrong. Quite stubborn! ;P

[Dr Susan Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This autobiography gives us the flavour of Joan's extraordinary life, from school teacher to highly respected fossil hunter and discoverer of key New Zealand fossil vertebrates. Helped off an on by scientists in NZ, Australia and the US, Joan and her family brought to light a suite of new fossils and in this book reeals the joys and hardships of collecting them.