Barnum Brown
The Man Who Discovered <i>Tyrannosaurus rex</i>
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- $23.99
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- $23.99
Publisher Description
From his stunning discovery of Tyrannosaurus rex one hundred years ago to the dozens of other important new dinosaur species he found, Barnum Brown led a remarkable life (1873–1963), spending most of it searching for fossils—and sometimes oil—in every corner of the globe. One of the most famous scientists in the world during the middle of the twentieth century, Brown—who lived fast, dressed to the nines, gambled, drank, smoked, and was known as a ladies’ man—became as legendary as the dinosaurs he uncovered. Barnum Brown brushes off the loose sediment to reveal the man behind the legend. Drawing on Brown’s field correspondence and unpublished notes, and on the writings of his daughter and his two wives, it discloses for the first time details about his life and travels—from his youth on the western frontier to his spying for the U.S. government under cover of his expeditions. This absorbing biography also takes full measure of Brown’s extensive scientific accomplishments, making it the definitive account of the life and times of a singular man and a superlative fossil hunter.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
American Museum of Natural History paleontologists Dingus and Norell recount the life of the legendary paleontologist who discovered the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex in Montana. The authors meticulously annotate many of the hundreds of finds Barnum Brown made over his lifetime. These descriptions take on a repetitive quality, but the other aspects of the business of fossil hunting will better hold the nonspecialist s attention. Brown s interactions with local cultures as he travels from the U.S. to India, Burma, Greece, Canada, and various countries within Africa on his expeditions, his relationships with other paleontologists, and the well-integrated story of his extracurricular life, which included a stint as a spy for the OSS, all contribute to a well documented whole. Brown s story is also the story of paleontology in the first half of the 20th century, and the authors capture the excitement of the ever-expanding knowledge as it is communicated among the field s leaders, as well as the controversies that inevitably followed. Dingus and Norell do justice to the unconventional, many-faceted if somewhat mysterious Brown, aptly named after showman P.T. Barnum and to his private and public personae. 44 b&w photos; 9 maps.
