Not What You Thought You Knew

Mary Anning the Pioneering Fossil Hunter

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Episode notes

A well-known celebrity in her day, we have somewhat struggled to appreciate the incredible weight of what Mary Anning's discoveries of ancient marine reptiles meant at the time for a burgeoning science. We speak to Dr Aubrey Roberts, a paleontologist at the University of Oslo, Norway, and affiliated with the London Natural History Museum, and Dr Rebekah Higgitt, a historian of science and senior lecturer at the Centre for the History of the Sciences at the University of Kent, about Mary Anning, who she was, the discoveries she made and her long-lasting legacy in the field of paleontology. Hosted by historian, author and broadcaster Dr Fern Riddell, HISTORY's Not What You Thought You Knew explores some under-celebrated characters from history and reveals not just their incredible story but also why they’re so important for our view of what history looked like. This episode of Not What You Thought You Knew was presented by Dr Fern Riddell and produced by Kim Sergeant, Peter Ross and Sam Pearson.  


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