Women Scientists

Mary Anning 1799-1847

At a glance:

the greatest fossilist the world has ever known

Mary Anning was said to 'understand more of the science of paleontology than anyone else in this kingdom' but she was a woman, moreover one of low social class, in a man's kingdom. She lived and died in Lyme Regis, on the South coast of England. It's cliffs are rich in fossils from seas of the Jurassic period. The Anning family lived in dire poverty, occasionally selling fossils to gentlemen collectors. A professional collector, Thomas Birch raised money to help them and Mary with her keen eye and accomplished skills as an anatomist soon established herself as a respected fossil hunter. She found the first pleisiosaur, which remains the type specimen for all others and made many other great discoveries including a pterodactyl and several ichthyosaurs. Her discoveries became key pieces of evidence for extinction, Her enormous contribution to paleontology was forgotten on her death, partly because it troubled the educated to think that someone uneducated like Mary could have such great intellectual skills
Mary Anning

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Comments

Here is what people are saying about Mary Anning:

from Edie (12:29 25/08/2009)
Have you all read Tracy Chevalier's book Remarkable Creatures based on the life of Mary Anning? She will be giving a lecture at the Royal Geographical Society in London on 4th November 2009, along with Miranda Krestovnikoff.

from Christi... (6:13 09/06/2009)
...I think that Mary Anning is the gratest in the whole wide world at science, better than any one else at all...probley even better than men.

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