American Museum of Natural History paleontologists Dingus and Norell recount the life of the legendary paleontologist who discovered the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex
in Montana. The authors meticulously annotate many of the hundreds of finds Barnum Brown made over his lifetime. These descriptions take on a repetitive quality, but the other aspects of the business of fossil hunting will better hold the nonspecialist’s attention. Brown’s interactions with local cultures as he travels from the U.S. to India, Burma, Greece, Canada, and various countries within Africa on his expeditions, his relationships with other paleontologists, and the well-integrated story of his extracurricular life, which included a stint as a spy for the OSS, all contribute to a well documented whole. Brown’s story is also the story of paleontology in the first half of the 20th century, and the authors capture the excitement of the ever-expanding knowledge as it is communicated among the field’s leaders, as well as the controversies that inevitably followed. Dingus and Norell do justice to the unconventional, many-faceted if somewhat mysterious Brown, aptly named after showman P.T. Barnum and to his private and public personae. 44 b&w photos; 9 maps. (June)
