Rebels, Scholars, Explorers
Women in Vertebrate Paleontology
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- $52.99
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- $52.99
Publisher Description
Unearthing the amazing hidden stories of women who changed paleontology forever.
For centuries, women have played key roles in defining and developing the field of vertebrate paleontology. Yet very little is known about these important paleontologists, and the true impacts of their contributions have remained obscure. In Rebels, Scholars, Explorers, Annalisa Berta and Susan Turner celebrate the history of women "bone hunters," delving into their fascinating lives and work. At the same time, they explore how the discipline has shaped our understanding of the history of life on Earth.
Berta and Turner begin by presenting readers with a review of the emergence of vertebrate paleontology as a science, emphasizing the contributions of women to research topics and employment. This is followed by brief biographical sketches and explanations of early discoveries by women around the world over the past 200 years, including those who who held roles as researchers, educators, curators, artists, and preparators. Forging new territory, Berta and Turner highlight the barriers and challenges faced by women paleontologists, describing how some managed to overcome those obstacles in order to build careers in the field. Finally, drawing on interviews with a diverse group of contemporary paleontologists, who share their experiences and offer recommendations to aspiring fossil hunters, they provide perspectives on what work still needs to be done in order to ensure that women's contributions to the field are encouraged and celebrated.
Uncovering and relating lost stories about the pivotal contributions of women in vertebrate paleontology doesn't just make for enthralling storytelling, but also helps ensure a richer and more diverse future for this vibrant field. Illuminating the discoveries, collections, and studies of fossil vertebrates conducted by women in vertebrate paleontology, Rebels, Scholars, Explorers will be on every paleontologist's most-wanted list and should find a broader audience in the burgeoning sector of readers from all backgrounds eager to learn about women in the sciences.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Paleontologists Berta and Turner deliver a valuable encyclopedia of female vertebrate paleontologists, or VPs. Their instructive, well-organized reference, targeted at readers with some knowledge of the field (not all terminology is defined), highlights how women have helped vertebrate paleontology shape science's "understanding of the history of life." Berta and Turner begin with 19th-century "bone-hunting icon" Mary Anning, discoverer of a nearly intact plesiosaur in 1824, following up with brief biographies of other important figures, such as Fanny Rysam Mulford Hitchcock, the first American female VP to publish, and Elga Mark-Kurik, who uncovered a transitional fossil between fish and land-dwelling animals. Along with historical firsts and discoveries, the coauthors share some maddening tales of gender inequity, such as about Mary Buckland, forbidden by her husband, fellow VP William Buckland, from attending scientific conferences. This didn't prevent him from relying on her help: when he "awoke with an idea about fossil tracks at two o'clock one morning," she gamely helped "by covering the kitchen table with pie crust dough while he fetched their pet tortoise and together they confirmed" that its footprints matched those of a recently discovered fossil. Women in science will appreciate Berta and Turner's tribute to female trailblazers in paleontology.
