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tuliptrees's review against another edition
5.0
Mary Anning’s story is one that every woman should know. This book does a wonderful job sharing it.
mikitiale's review against another edition
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Very informative. Mary Anning's contributions to geology, paleontology, and natural history are invaluable. Women in science are so often overlooked so I'm happy to have found this book! The audiobook performer also had a pleasant voice and made the listening experience enjoyable. Highly recommend!
My one gripe with this book is how often corsets were mentioned to be suffocating or unreasonably tight when corsets of this period were not a restrictive garment, but a supportive one, similar to the support offered by modern-day bras.
My one gripe with this book is how often corsets were mentioned to be suffocating or unreasonably tight when corsets of this period were not a restrictive garment, but a supportive one, similar to the support offered by modern-day bras.
chloeknight's review against another edition
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
2.75
I wanted to enjoy this book but the meandering of the storytelling was frustrating. There was also a lot of repetition - so much so I thought I had rewound sections only to find I hadn’t.
I understand there isn’t a wealth of information on Mary Anning, but that shouldn’t be a reason to pad out the book with side stories that only just relate to her.
Overall, yes it was an informative book but not one I’d recommend others to bother with.
I understand there isn’t a wealth of information on Mary Anning, but that shouldn’t be a reason to pad out the book with side stories that only just relate to her.
Overall, yes it was an informative book but not one I’d recommend others to bother with.
mxsallybend's review against another edition
4.0
Despite a few narrative flaws, this is an absolutely fascinating story of a young woman doesn’t get the social or scientific recognition she deserves. Coming in, I knew just enough about Mary Anning to want to know more. I knew she was the subject of Tracy Chevalier's [b:Remarkable Creatures|6457081|Remarkable Creatures|Tracy Chevalier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327161912l/6457081._SY75_.jpg|6647405](which is next on my reading list), but I wanted to start with something more straightforwardly biographical, before moving into the novelised version of her life.
Since I don’t want them to be the focus of my review, let me quickly do away with those narrative flaws I mentioned. Emling’s biography is unflinching and unapologetic in its honestly . . . it’s a story full of words like maybe, perhaps, probably, and likely. As readers, I think we come into a biography understanding that the author cannot possibly know every detail of every moment of the subject’s life with. There’s an unspoken agreement between reader and author to that effect, a silent understanding that there will necessarily be liberties in detail and dialogue. Calling attention to those grey areas at every turn was just distracting.
The other flaw is that the book tends to ramble sometimes, diverting into tangents that, as interesting as they are on their own, interrupt the flow of Mary’s story. Granted, some of these diversions are lengthy, but most of them could have been better served as footnotes or supplementary material at the end. Some readers might not mind the diversions, but it was Mary I came to read about, and it was Mary upon whom I wanted to remain focused.
As soon as you begin to understand a little about Mary Anning, you’ll also understand why those diversions are so distracting. Mary is an icon, a heroine, and a legend. As a self-taught, independent, young woman she made discoveries that put her highly-educated, well-supported, male peers to shame. She had an instinctive understanding of the fossils and bones she was finding, and could immediately envision the prehistoric monstrosities those tiny pieces should form. On more than one occasion, stuffy old scientists and palaeontologists adamantly declared that she was wrong, accusing her of fraud, only to be proven wrong on every occasion.
The fact that Mary got into fossil hunting merely to support her family, following in the footsteps of her beloved (and equally amateur father) just adds to the legend. As a woman, she never received proper credit for any of her discoveries, and could not attend any of the meetings where they were celebrated and discussed. Despite that, the greatest scientific minds of her time understood what a treasure they had in Mary, and many of them sought her out to walk the shore, to experience her gift, and to discuss her finds.
Neither able not permitted to pursue higher education, Mary educated herself, reading whatever she could her hands on, and exploring the practical applications of that knowledge. Far more worried about paying rent on their small cottage, and with feeding her mother and her siblings, she sacrificed the fame and fortune that she could have easily earned as a man, not to mention the love she must have craved as a human being, simply to provide.
It’s amazing to think that, even as Charles Darwin was embarking upon The Beagle, yet to even conceive, much less write, [b:The Origin of Species|22463|The Origin of Species|Charles Darwin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1298417570l/22463._SY75_.jpg|481941], this young woman was discovering dinosaurs that even the most educated minds couldn’t fathom. Had I the gift of time travel, I would love nothing more than to spend a day upon the beach, scavenging for fossils with Mary as my guide. Never afraid to get dirty, and more respectful than afraid of the tides that (more than once) brought ruin to Lyme Regis, she must have been an awe-inspiring figure.
Mary’s story is, in a word, amazing. It’s not just the story of a self-taught palaeontologist, a pioneer in her field, but the story of a self-made woman, a revolutionary in her gender. She is a woman who deserves to be recognized on both fronts, and her story here pays equal attention to both aspects of her extraordinary character. Of course, this is also a story full of fascinating details about dinosaurs, fossils, and the scientific process of the 19th century, which just makes it that much more compelling.
https://sallybend.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/the-fossil-hunter-by-shelley-emling/
Since I don’t want them to be the focus of my review, let me quickly do away with those narrative flaws I mentioned. Emling’s biography is unflinching and unapologetic in its honestly . . . it’s a story full of words like maybe, perhaps, probably, and likely. As readers, I think we come into a biography understanding that the author cannot possibly know every detail of every moment of the subject’s life with. There’s an unspoken agreement between reader and author to that effect, a silent understanding that there will necessarily be liberties in detail and dialogue. Calling attention to those grey areas at every turn was just distracting.
The other flaw is that the book tends to ramble sometimes, diverting into tangents that, as interesting as they are on their own, interrupt the flow of Mary’s story. Granted, some of these diversions are lengthy, but most of them could have been better served as footnotes or supplementary material at the end. Some readers might not mind the diversions, but it was Mary I came to read about, and it was Mary upon whom I wanted to remain focused.
As soon as you begin to understand a little about Mary Anning, you’ll also understand why those diversions are so distracting. Mary is an icon, a heroine, and a legend. As a self-taught, independent, young woman she made discoveries that put her highly-educated, well-supported, male peers to shame. She had an instinctive understanding of the fossils and bones she was finding, and could immediately envision the prehistoric monstrosities those tiny pieces should form. On more than one occasion, stuffy old scientists and palaeontologists adamantly declared that she was wrong, accusing her of fraud, only to be proven wrong on every occasion.
The fact that Mary got into fossil hunting merely to support her family, following in the footsteps of her beloved (and equally amateur father) just adds to the legend. As a woman, she never received proper credit for any of her discoveries, and could not attend any of the meetings where they were celebrated and discussed. Despite that, the greatest scientific minds of her time understood what a treasure they had in Mary, and many of them sought her out to walk the shore, to experience her gift, and to discuss her finds.
Neither able not permitted to pursue higher education, Mary educated herself, reading whatever she could her hands on, and exploring the practical applications of that knowledge. Far more worried about paying rent on their small cottage, and with feeding her mother and her siblings, she sacrificed the fame and fortune that she could have easily earned as a man, not to mention the love she must have craved as a human being, simply to provide.
It’s amazing to think that, even as Charles Darwin was embarking upon The Beagle, yet to even conceive, much less write, [b:The Origin of Species|22463|The Origin of Species|Charles Darwin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1298417570l/22463._SY75_.jpg|481941], this young woman was discovering dinosaurs that even the most educated minds couldn’t fathom. Had I the gift of time travel, I would love nothing more than to spend a day upon the beach, scavenging for fossils with Mary as my guide. Never afraid to get dirty, and more respectful than afraid of the tides that (more than once) brought ruin to Lyme Regis, she must have been an awe-inspiring figure.
Mary’s story is, in a word, amazing. It’s not just the story of a self-taught palaeontologist, a pioneer in her field, but the story of a self-made woman, a revolutionary in her gender. She is a woman who deserves to be recognized on both fronts, and her story here pays equal attention to both aspects of her extraordinary character. Of course, this is also a story full of fascinating details about dinosaurs, fossils, and the scientific process of the 19th century, which just makes it that much more compelling.
https://sallybend.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/the-fossil-hunter-by-shelley-emling/
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not sure if I've read a book about Mary Aning before but I highly enjoyed it and would definitely want to read and learn more about her after this. I might rush to it but I would pick it up if I found another one
ori_gina_lity's review against another edition
3.0
A fascinating book that sheds light on the inspirational story of Mary Anning, an uneducated, working-class woman born in 1799, who is considered one of the most important paleontologists that you’ve never heard of. Anning made many important discoveries on the southern coast of England in the early to mid 1800s.
I found the first half of this book to be a breeze, Mary Anning’s life story is quite the anomaly and worth learning about. Emling engages the reader with a readable beginning, as she recreates each of Anning’s significant discoveries. Filling in the gaps where needed to explore her life, The Fossil Hunter also acknowledging that we know little of the woman who sparked so much debate in the scientific world - her findings along the coast of Lyme Regis shattered the belief that animals didn’t become extinct and paved the way for people like Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution. About halfway through the bio takes on a monotonous tone, and gets a bit tedious. Emling meanders and rambles about the scientific men of the time… while it’s interesting to compare the focus is taken away from Anning far more than I’d have anticipated. That aside, the book makes for an interesting scientific read. 3/5 stars.
I found the first half of this book to be a breeze, Mary Anning’s life story is quite the anomaly and worth learning about. Emling engages the reader with a readable beginning, as she recreates each of Anning’s significant discoveries. Filling in the gaps where needed to explore her life, The Fossil Hunter also acknowledging that we know little of the woman who sparked so much debate in the scientific world - her findings along the coast of Lyme Regis shattered the belief that animals didn’t become extinct and paved the way for people like Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution. About halfway through the bio takes on a monotonous tone, and gets a bit tedious. Emling meanders and rambles about the scientific men of the time… while it’s interesting to compare the focus is taken away from Anning far more than I’d have anticipated. That aside, the book makes for an interesting scientific read. 3/5 stars.
spauffwrites's review against another edition
3.0
A very interesting and well-researched book about one of Britain’s most prolific fossil hunters, Mary Anning. I was particularly struck by Anning’s perseverance and fascination with fossils. She was poor, a young girl with little formal education, yet she unearthed fossils — some massive, others tiny — that led to the discovery of dinosaurs. Her success wasn’t mere luck; she combed the beach every day and through practice, learned what to look for. Her finds challenged the commonly held views of the time, that God created the earth in six days and that once upon a time, a worldwide biblical flood wiped out creation. Unfortunately, Mary had to sell her finds to feed herself and her family, while other more educated men took credit for her work. More than a century later, Anning finally gets her due.
kathleenww's review against another edition
5.0
I have wanted to read this book for some time. I was not disappointed! If you've read Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures (which I have, and loved), you should really enjoy this non-fictionalized version of the story of Mary Anning's life and work. This woman from a very humble background spent her life digging through the treacherous cliffs of Lyme Regis, England, searching for fossils. Though she made many important discoveries, surpassing those of most of her male colleagues, little credit has been given to this pioneer. For those that have read RC, if it is possible, her real life reads even more like fiction than the fiction! An amazingly strong and independent woman, Anning's story should be shared with all young women, especially to encourage them to take a chance, do what you love, and follow your dreams. Hopefully, it will also encourage women to enter into the sciences! Fascinating book. I'm seeking out more about this wonderful era of discovery that changed everything about how we view our world!
kelamity_reads's review
informative
medium-paced
2.0
I'm a big fan of Mary Anning, and I looked forward to reading this book. Unfortunately, whilst there is a lot of good information about Anning's life and the social climate of her time, the overall book felt a bit weak and uncertain. It didn't really draw me in and the constant use of "most likely", "probably", "she likely", etc before any piece of information made it feel like the entire book was simply speculation.