The Dragon Seekers by Christopher McGowan

The Dragon Seekers

The Discovery of Dinosaurs During the Prelude to Darwin

by Christopher McGowan

Abacus, 2003, b/w photographs and illustrations in text, paperback, ISBN 0349117101

Very Good Condition, uncreased spine

'The dramatic story of how a group of nineteenth-century fossilists forever changed our view of history - and laid the groundwork for the Darwinian revolution.

Set in nineteenth-century England, The Dragon Seekers chronicles the amazing discoveries of the first fossilists, whose geological and palaeontological findings led to the discovery of the age of dinosaurs.  The intriguing cast of characters includes Mary Anning, a working-class woman who became one of the most successful fossil collectors of all times; Thomas Hawkins, another amateur collector, who "improved upon" fossils in order to increase their market value; the eccentric William Buckland, discoverer of the world's first dinosaur (Megalosaurus), and Richard Owen, an expert anatomist, who synthesized the discoveries of the age and ultimately coined the word dinosaur in 1842.'