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Jack Kallmeyer posted an update in the group
Bookworms 5 years, 2 months ago 5 years, 2 months ago5 years, 2 months agoHow about some cool old books? Three by Roy Chapman Andrews – the original Indiana Jones. On the Trail of Ancient Man , 1926 is about the Central Asiatic Expeditions. Ends of the Earth 1929 more on the Central Asiatic Expeditions. Meet Your Ancestors, 1945, “a biography of primitive man.” This one still includes Piltdown Man as valid. Read these adventures without the modern filters of PC. Fascinating look into exploration by true adventurers.
Very cool! The Piltdown Man story is always so shocking to me. Were these easy to get through? I tried to read Ulysses and the old English really made it difficult for me to remain focused. I got through the Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man with ease but it was infinitely shorter.
Jen,
These were written by a “regular guy” so to speak so not a super author trying to impress everyone with vocabulary or sentence structure. They read like an adventure story.
The toughest books I have ever waded through were those written in the 19th century where it seems the educated elite really were educated. These folks love paragraph length sentences. I have a lot of respect for modern authors who wade through these books to give us understandable books on the history of geology and paleontology – Rudwick, Rupke, Desmond. Rudwick is especially prolific.
That’s great to hear – I can get behind books that read like an adventure story. It makes them so much more digestible. I agree with you – the really long paragraphs written ‘properly’ are like a nightmare for me to dissect. Great to get a list of authors that have already translated the tough language for us!
For students of the history of paleontology, Rudwick’s monumental tomes are worthwhile reading. You will need a lot of time though:
Bursting the Limits of Time: The Reconstruction of Geohistory in the Age of Revolution, 2005, 708 pp.
Worlds Before Adam: The Reconstruction of Geohistory in the Age of Reform, 2008, 614 pp
I liked these as they not only told the story of geology/paleontology but linked everything to the history of the times. It was very interesting to see how advances in our science were linked to world history.
Wow! Okay, I have a few books on my list but can add these into the queue… looks like I better get a move on getting my library card.