Fossil hunting is an interest that many people are following. Traveling the world for hunting fossils is to discover a world that has not existed for millions of years.
Yet the first fossil hunters were pioneers that made great discoveries in learning about the beasts that lived before us.
One of the greatest fossil hunters that lived was Mary Anning: an uneducated poor woman that her discoveries are still exhibited in museums.
The world has used me so unkindly, I fear it has made me suspicious of everyone.
Mary Anning
Today Mary is considered ‘the unsung hero of fossil discovery’. Although she never went to university, her thirst for learning geology led her to become a woman in science with many achievements.
However, she was never credited for any of her discoveries while she was alive and she was even rejected by the Geological Society of London.
Hence she is one of many women in science that the scientific community did not recognize her work, even though she discovered the very first dinosaurs in the UK.
Her story is indeed an inspiration for empowering women. Maybe that is why it is portrayed in the new upcoming film ‘Ammonite’ with Kate Winslet as Mary Anning.
But the film is centered on a romantic relationship between Anning and another woman, something that the family of Mary refused to be true.
So the true story of Mary is featured in this episode including the following facts:
- her childhood and her father’s influence on her interest in fossils
- the three discoveries she made that changed science history forever
- science community behavior towards her and their refusal to credit her work
- her death at the age of 47 years old and her legacy that still lives on
Mary Anning [is] probably the most important unsung (or inadequately sung) collecting force in the history of paleontology.
Stephen Jay Gould
What do you think about the story of Mary Anning? Tell us your thoughts below.
Important: share only your own story directly in the comments. Links to other posts, videos, websites, etc. will be removed.
Thank you for sharing your comments.
With love…for science,
Konstantia
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