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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
 Posted - 10/27/2011 : 19:03:18
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I just finished Big Bone Lick: The Cradle of America Paleontology by biology professor Stanley Hedeen. It was one of three recommended books for a free class I'm taking on French Naturalism in the 1800's.
I'll be honest, it is not a book I'd recommend to just anyone who likes to read. The book is pretty dry, especially the first few chapters. Lots of straight-forward information organized into descriptive chapters. The chapters have titles such as "Relationship between surface bedrock and the Cincinnati Arch" and "Forty-inch-log femur collected at Big Bone Lick in 1739". I enjoy this sort of reading, but it isn't a page turner.
I think it picks up a bit in chapter 4 when the book really starts to get into the debates over the identification of mammoth and mastodon remains, and the philosophical and religious consequences of discovering that animals can and have gone extinct. (All the discoveries covered in this book pre-date the discovery of dinosaurs, though not by much.) You start to get a good idea of just how shattering these scientific discoveries were to the Western worldview of the day. And for those interested in figures in American history, this book features quite a few, including Thomas Jefferson, William Clark, and Daniel Boone. Also some important French Naturalists, especially Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon and Georges Cuvier.
The whole book is only 150 pages, and in my opinion well worth the read for those interested in the discovery of extinct megafauna, American history, or natural history during the Enlightenment.
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"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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Big Bone Lick by Stanley Hedeen
