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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 Drawing on Brown’s field correspondence and unpublished notes, and on the writings of his daughter and his two wives, it discloses for the first time details about his life and travels—from his youth on the western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.
Price: $58.95
Pages: 384
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Publication Date:
03 May 2010
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520252646
Format: Hardcover
“A rollicking recollection of Brown.”
— Jen Barone
“It is about time someone wrote this book . . . this book tells the story very well . . . Highly recommended.”
— M. A. Wilson
“Dingus and Norell do justice to the unconventional, many-faceted if somewhat mysterious Brown.”
“An authoritative biography of Barnum Brown has long been wanting, and the authors of the new volume have done an overall excellent job of summarizing the achievements of one of the most famous fossil hunters of all time.”
— Brian Switek
“Brown liked bonhomie, incurred woman trouble from time to time, and had a wife whose embellishments of life in the field enliven the biography . . .her letter writing and published books about subsequent digs round out this biography and indicate the public interest in “Mr. Bones” during his lifetime. Dingus and Norell ably revive that in this gap-filling scientific biography.”
— Gilbert Taylor
“Intriguing.”
“Well written.”
— Donald M. Henderson
“The definitive account of the life and times of a singular man and a superlative fossil hunter.”
“The definitive account of the life and times of a singular man and a superlative fossil hunter.”
“Occasionally, a biography strikes the perfect note . . . The exhaustive research pays off big for the reader, placing Barnum Brown in the upper ranks of well-written biographies.”
— Claire Rudy Foster
“Comprehensive and enjoyable . . . A monumental amount of careful research, consultation with colleagues and source checking clearly went into this volume and it will stand forever as the definitive work on this most important character.”
— Darren Naish
“An extremely good book.”
— Jeffrey W. Martz
“A scholarly but very readable book. Brown emerges as a character one might enjoy sitting beside on a long airplane flight.”
— Jane Manaster
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).
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
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