A history of the early days of fossil hunting in America, replete
with high adventure, ruthless competitors, and amazing scientific
discoveries The uncovering in the mid-1700s of fossilized mastodon
bones and teeth at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, signaled the beginning
of a great American adventure. The West was opening up and
unexplored lands beckoned. Unimagined paleontological treasures
awaited discovery: strange horned mammals, birds with teeth, flying
reptiles, gigantic fish, diminutive ancestors of horses and camels,
and more than a hundred different kinds of dinosaurs. This exciting
book tells the story of the grandest period of fossil discovery in
American history, the years from 1750 to 1890. The volume begins
with Thomas Jefferson, whose keen interest in the American mastodon
led him to champion the study of fossil vertebrates. The book
continues with vivid descriptions of the actual work of prospecting
for fossils--a pick in one hand, a rifle in the other--and
enthralling portraits of Joseph Leidy, Ferdinand Hayden, Edward
Cope, and Othniel Marsh among other major figures in the
development of the science of paleontology. Shedding new light on
these scientists' feuds and rivalries, on the connections between
fossil studies in Europe and America, and on paleontology's
contributions to America's developing national identity, The Legacy
of the Mastodon is itself a fabulous discovery for every reader to
treasure.
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