The Dinosaur Hunters by Deborah Cadbury, Fourth Estate, £14.99, ISBN
1857029593
PEOPLE have always been fascinated by fossils, attracted by their curious
shapes and rarity. A hand axe from the early Stone Age contains a fossil in its
side. The ancient Greeks based their mythical giants on dinosaur skulls exposed
in eroding cliffs. Fossil finds inspired dragons for the Chinese and suggested
griffins to the Scythians.
These days, of course, we can unpick such myths and often identify some of
the species that gave rise to them. Common fossils even acquired folk tales and
names to match: thunderstones, or ammonites,…
