Keith Stewart Thomson (1938–2025) was a distinguished evolutionary biologist, historian, and writer. He was emeritus professor of natural history at the University of Oxford and had served as director of the Oxford Museum of Natural History, the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, and the Peabody Museum at Yale University, where he was also a professor and dean. He wrote many books and essays on history, history of science, evolution, and paleontology, including The Common but Less Frequent Loon and Other Essays; Before Darwin: Reconciling God and Nature; The Young Charles Darwin; and Jefferson’s Shadow: The Story of His Science.

“This tale begins Thomson’s look at the early years of American fossil hunting. In addition to a history of paleontology, it is an account of the opening of the West and of how adventurous and often egotistical men mined the new land for fossils. The book explains how Darwinian evolution made the second half of this ‘golden age’ important scientifically, but Thomson really succeeds by bringing to life the fossil-finders and their world.”—Marc Kaufman, Washington Post“Thomson recasts the myth of the American West, writing of the frontier as the onetime home of ‘hitherto unsuspected’ animal life. Thomson charts the rise of vertebrate paleontology as a combination of practical American innovations and philosophical ones—the transcontinental railroad and Jeffersonian ideals.”—Laren Porcaro, New Yorker“Through enjoyable story-telling backed by thoroughly researched material, extensively footnoted chapter by chapter at the end of the book, Thomson successfully brings the world and lives of the well known and undeservedly not so well known early American fossil-hunters vividly to life.”—Lyall L. Anderson, Journal of Geological Magazine“Professor Thomson writes with authority, enthusiasm, and impressive breadth on the history of paleontology in America, which often reads like an epic adventure story.”—Andrew O’Shaughnessy, Saunders Director, Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, Monticello“A one-stop resource for understanding the major currents of vertebrae paleontology and associated sciences, plus all the relevant dramatis personae, right up to the end of the nineteenth century. This book is a gold mine.”—Kevin Padian, University of California, Berkeley

Keith Stewart Thomson (1938–2025) was a distinguished evolutionary biologist, historian, and writer. He was emeritus professor of natural history at the University of Oxford and had served as director of the Oxford Museum of Natural History, the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, and the Peabody Museum at Yale University, where he was also a professor and dean. He wrote many books and essays on history, history of science, evolution, and paleontology, including The Common but Less Frequent Loon and Other Essays; Before Darwin: Reconciling God and Nature; The Young Charles Darwin; and Jefferson’s Shadow: The Story of His Science.

“This tale begins Thomson’s look at the early years of American fossil hunting. In addition to a history of paleontology, it is an account of the opening of the West and of how adventurous and often egotistical men mined the new land for fossils. The book explains how Darwinian evolution made the second half of this ‘golden age’ important scientifically, but Thomson really succeeds by bringing to life the fossil-finders and their world.”—Marc Kaufman, Washington Post“Thomson recasts the myth of the American West, writing of the frontier as the onetime home of ‘hitherto unsuspected’ animal life. Thomson charts the rise of vertebrate paleontology as a combination of practical American innovations and philosophical ones—the transcontinental railroad and Jeffersonian ideals.”—Laren Porcaro, New Yorker“Through enjoyable story-telling backed by thoroughly researched material, extensively footnoted chapter by chapter at the end of the book, Thomson successfully brings the world and lives of the well known and undeservedly not so well known early American fossil-hunters vividly to life.”—Lyall L. Anderson, Journal of Geological Magazine“Professor Thomson writes with authority, enthusiasm, and impressive breadth on the history of paleontology in America, which often reads like an epic adventure story.”—Andrew O’Shaughnessy, Saunders Director, Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, Monticello“A one-stop resource for understanding the major currents of vertebrae paleontology and associated sciences, plus all the relevant dramatis personae, right up to the end of the nineteenth century. This book is a gold mine.”—Kevin Padian, University of California, Berkeley