Discovering the Mammoth: A Tale of Giants, Unicorns, Ivory, and the Birth of a New Science
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.52 (741 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1681774240 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 264 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-03-19 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
McKay’s story is not about ancient creatures, but about how humans approach the world’s mysteries.” - Publishers Weekly. “As John McKay vividly relates, the scientific saga of the mammoth began in the seventeenth century, when the evocative remains became pivotal to the evolution of vertebrate palaeontology.” - Nature“McKay masterfully weaves an intricate story of the events, politics, people, and scientific development associated with the ‘rediscovery’ of mammoths.” - Booklist“A well-organized history of science
But how do you figure out what a mammoth is if you have no concept of extinction, ice ages, or fossils? Long after the last mammoth died and was no longer part of the human diet, it still played a role in human life. The fascinating saga of solving the mystery of this ancient animal who once roamed the north countryand has captivated our collective imagination ever since. Today, we know that a mammoth is an extinct type of elephant that was covered with long fur and lived in the north country during the ice ages. 8 pages of color illustrations. Yet the mystery of these mighty bones remained. When the ancient Greeks saw deposits of giant fossils, they knew they had discovered the battle fields where the gods had vanquished the Titans. The path to figuring out the mammoth was traveled by merchants, diplomats, missionaries, cranky doctors, collectors of natural wonders, Swedish POWs, Peter the Great, Ben Franklin, the inventor of hot chocolate, and even one pirate. How did Enlightenment thinkers overcome centuries of myth and misunderstanding to reconstruct an unknown animal? The journey to unravel that puzzle begins in the 1690s with the arrival of new type of ivory on
McKay has a Master’s in History from the University of Washington. John J. He lives in Anchorage, Alaska, where people appreciate a good mammoth. . Visit him at mammothtalesspot. A technical writer by trade, he is the "Mammoth Guy" by vocation, and his remarkable archival research, lively wit and passion for extinct proboscideans is well k