Mary Anning, The queen of paleontology
- Miguel Vissers
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
In this article Miguel Vissers confesses he did not know who Mary Anning was. Whether the name sounds familiar or not, he invites you on a trip through the Natural History Museum of London on his road to discovery amongst fossils, gemstones, and first editions of science books. And as always, he exits through the gift shop.
Writing a piece of so-called ‘forgotten figures in science’ is tricky. Claiming that ‘we’—whoever this we may be—have forgotten someone starting from your own experience seems a bit egocentric. More so, it might just be that you were ignorant about important people in certain scientific fields, whereas others might scoff and say “You don’t know this person?” Nevertheless, I’m taking the risk of coming across as a completely uninformed—but hopefully not bigoted—fool and confess that I did not know who Mary Anning was. If the name does not ring a bell, then this article is for you! If it does, I apologize for my ignorance and hope you’ll still join me on my road to discovery.
