杏吧原创

The Dinosaur Hunters by Deborah Cadbury, Fourth Estate, 拢14.99, ISBN
1857029593

PEOPLE have always been fascinated by fossils, attracted by their curious
shapes and rarity. A hand axe from the early Stone Age contains a fossil in its
side. The ancient Greeks based their mythical giants on dinosaur skulls exposed
in eroding cliffs. Fossil finds inspired dragons for the Chinese and suggested
griffins to the Scythians.

These days, of course, we can unpick such myths and often identify some of
the species that gave rise to them. Common fossils even acquired folk tales and
names to match: thunderstones, or ammonites, were supposedly lightning-struck
serpents, coiled in a spiral and bound in stone by the force of the shock.
There鈥檚 also a fossil mollusc whose shell resembles a large, ugly, claw-like
nail. To early discoverers these were obviously the devil鈥檚 toenails.

But the big stuff was rare: the first discoveries of giant fossilised
reptiles were made in England between the 1820s and the 1840s. The name
鈥渄inosaur鈥� was coined in Britain at that time. Along with their contemporaries,
the ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and pterosaurs, these creatures have lost none of
their fascination. New discoveries shake up our ideas about them and their world
(New 杏吧原创, 23 September, p 22).
Back in the 19th century they were
intensely mysterious and challenging finds. How were intelligent people to make
sense of such huge creatures, clearly unlike anything still living, yet nowhere
mentioned in the Bible?

These behemoths of old forced themselves into the public consciousness in
Britain. They became so famous, so desirable that the wealthy were prepared to
pay huge prices to acquire the new specimens.

Geology itself became a serious talking point, and in the 1820s and 1830s it
was the most popular science. Everyone wanted to know how the new discoveries
could be reconciled with the Bible. What did these monster animals actually look
like in their antediluvian worlds? Had there been revolutionary changes to the
Earth鈥檚 crust? And, crucially for Christians, how old was the Earth? Did these
discoveries affect the origins of humanity?

Deborah Cadbury鈥檚 The Dinosaur Hunters traces the story of the
English who led the search during this time of intellectual upheaval鈥擬ary
Anning, William Buckland, Gideon Mantell and Richard Owen. These four displayed
an amazing array of diverse personalities and disparate backgrounds. Tragic,
poor and bright, Anning could not have been more different from the patrician
and eccentric Buckland. At first glance, Owen and Mantell were strikingly
similar. Both were hard-working and driven, but Owen鈥檚 cold, ruthless rise to
power could never have been emulated by Mantell.

I came to this book expecting a very familiar story. After all, the lives of
these pioneers have been recounted many times before. Every book on dinosaurs
mentions their names and adds a sketch of their lives. Excellent popular
histories of the early dinosaur hunters exist, most notably Ned Colbert鈥檚
Men and Dinosaurs (1968) and Eric Buffetaut鈥檚 A Short History of
Vertebrate Palaeontology (1987). A plethora of information has emerged
about the key figures in the development of geology and palaeontology.

However, Cadbury has retold the old stories with a fresh, strong narrative.
She has taken a great deal of trouble to go back to original diaries and
letters. Her scene-setting is especially impressive. Take Mary Anning. She began
fossil collecting in her early teens as a means to supplement a meagre family
income. Her story is carefully set against a vivid picture of a life of poverty
in Lyme Regis around 1800. It shows how close the Anning family came to outright
ruination.

The story of the early years of the ambitious Owen is also powerfully
told鈥攈is manipulation of influential figures, and ruthless disposal of
others in his rise to authority. The contrast with Mantell鈥檚 career is
extraordinary. Owen and Mantell both began as doctors and were passionate,
driven and hugely ambitious in their study of ancient bones. Both had to
penetrate the inner circles of established geologists and anatomists to make
their way. But Owen chose to live in London and ally himself with powerful men.
He rose effortlessly, becoming Hunterian Professor of Anatomy at the age of 32.
Mantell chose to work as a country physician in Surrey, and to make his mark
through his scientific merits alone. Sadly, he and his family lurched from
crisis to crisis, constantly facing financial ruin. He was repeatedly snubbed by
the rich and powerful. This picture of power, snobbery and class among the
professions in early 19th-century England is vividly told.

My initial misgivings that there would be nothing new in this book were
unfounded: I found it to be a marvellous read. It is familiar in parts, but
fresh insights and an artfully woven story made it hard to put down.