Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expeditions - Softcover

Gallenkamp, Charles

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0142000760 ISBN 13: 9780142000762

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2002

Synopsis

A journey through the tremendous discoveries and unforgettable adventures of the Central Asiatic Expeditions of 1922-1930 describes how a fossil-hunting team, led by Roy Chapman Andrews, braved raging sandstorms, murderous bandits, political intrigue, civil war, and conflicts between the United States and China as it searched for evidence of dinosaurs and other extinct creatures in the Gobi Desert. Reprint.

About this title

Review

Roy Chapman Andrews was never much of a scholar, and anyone who looked at his high school report card might have foretold an undistinguished future. But, from an early age, Andrews's ambitions lay outside the social norm; an ardent fan of Robinson Crusoe and a devoted outdoorsman, Andrews wanted nothing more than to be an adventurer. He got his chance when he talked his way onto the staff of the American Museum of Natural History in 1906, under whose auspices, 15 years later, he was to mount the first of his central Asian expeditions. This decade-long program of exploration took Andrews and his team into the heart of the Gobi, one of the last uncharted regions on earth.

Convinced for ideological as much as scientific reasons that humans originated not in Africa but in Asia, Andrews spent much of his time in the field seeking evidence of early man. That search would prove fruitless, for, as biographer Charles Gallenkamp notes, "nary a scrap of genuinely ancient human bone was ever retrieved by the Central Asian Expeditions." What Andrews and his colleagues did find, however, has propelled dozens of scientific missions ever since: huge caches of dinosaur bones at places such as Mongolia's Flaming Cliffs. These fossils helped demonstrate geological connections between Asia and North America, and they added dozens of new species to the paleontological record.

All the while, Andrews contended with bandits, corrupt officials, invading armies, disease, and other dangers. After finishing Gallenkamp's vigorous book, readers will understand why Andrews should have served as the model for the movie character Indiana Jones--who, if anything, pales by comparison to the real thing. --Gregory McNamee

From the Publisher

10 1.5-hour cassettes

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0142000760
• ISBN 13: 9780142000762
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 368