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"Lowell Dingus and Mark Norell have produced a highly readable, comprehensive account of the life and scientific work of Barnum Brown, arguably the most intrepid and successful collector of dinosaurs and other prehistoric vertebrates ever. Their story goes beyond the sensationalism of earlier accounts to flesh out Brown as not only an intrepid explorer but an important contributor to American science."—Kevin Padian, University of California, Berkeley
"In Barnum Brown an engrossing narrative and a treasury of firsthand field notes and letters combine to form a true epic: the life of a great paleontologist and an all-too-human, and therefore fascinating, man. Indispensable reading for anyone interested in fossils and the people who hunt them."—Michael Novacek, author of Terra
“'The greatest dinosaur hunter of all time,' a fitting title for the man who shipped more than 1200 crates of fossilized bones to New York from far flung localities around the globe. In this superb, first-ever biography of Barnum Brown, Dingus and Norell paint a vivid portrait of an intrepid field worker, accomplished researcher, and popularizer of dinosaurs—a larger-than-life character who left a deep and indelible mark on the field of paleontology."—Scott D. Sampson, author of Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life
"Without a doubt the most popular and well-known dinosaur in the world, Tyrannosaurus rex has inspired millions of people worldwide through fact and fiction. Similarly, just about every vertebrate palaeontologist has been affected by the amazing career of Barnum Brown. But there has never been a biography written by scientists . . . until now! Here at last is an intimate look at the man who discovered the beast and turned our imaginations loose."—Philip J. Currie, author of Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs
List of contents
Contents
List of Illustrations
Prologue: The Mindset of Barnum Brown
1. Child of the Frontier (1873–1889)
2. Student . . . of Sorts (1889–1896)
3. Apprentice Extraordinaire (1896–1898)
4. To Land’s End: Patagonia (1898–1900)
5. To the Depths of Hell Creek (1900–1903)
6. Love (1903–1906)
7. Loss (1906–1910)
8. The Canadian Dinosaur Bone Rush (1910–1916)
9. Cuba, Abyssinia, and Other Intrigues (1916–1921)
10. Jewels from the Orient: Raj India (1921–1923)
11. Perils and Pearls Up the Irrawaddy: Burma (1923)
12. Samos: Isle of Intrigue (1923–1925)
13. Ancient Americans Hunting Bison? Birds as Dinosaurs? (1925–1931)
14. Digging—and Flying—for Dinosaurs: Howe Quarry and the Aerial Survey of Western Fossil Beds (1931–1935)
15. Toward the Golden Years: The Mystery Track-Maker and the Glen Rose Trackway (1935–1942)
16. Brown as a Spy, Movie Consultant, and Showman at the World’s Fair (1942–1963)
Epilogue
Appendix 1.
List of Major Specimens Collected by Barnum Brown on Display in the AMNH Fossil Halls
Appendix 2.
Memoirs of Barnum Brown: Discovery, Excavation and Preparation of the Type Specimen Tyrannosaurus rex
Appendix 3.
Summary of Fossil Collections by Barnum Brown and His AMNH Crews
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index
About the author
Lowell Dingus is Research Associate in Vertebrate Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Mark A. Norell is Chair of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History. Together with Eugene Gaffney, Dingus and Norell coauthored Discovering Dinosaurs: Evolution, Extinction, and the Lessons of Prehistory (UC Press, winner of an American Library Association Award).
Summary
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. This book discloses the details about his life and travels.
Additional text
“A scholarly but very readable book. Brown emerges as a character one might enjoy sitting beside on a long airplane flight.”
