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Impossible Monsters: Dinosaurs, Darwin, and the Battle Between Science and Religion Hardcover – July 16, 2024

by Michael Taylor (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 27 ratings
Editors' pick Best History
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Waterstones • Best Books of 2024 (Popular Science)

“Vivid with a Mesozoic bestiary” (Tom Holland), this on-the-ground, page-turning narrative weaves together the chance discovery of dinosaurs and the rise of the secular age.

When the twelve-year-old daughter of a British carpenter pulled some strange-looking bones from the country’s southern shoreline in 1811, few people dared to question that the Bible told the accurate history of the world. But Mary Anning had in fact discovered the “first” ichthyosaur, and over the next seventy-five years―as the science of paleontology developed, as Charles Darwin posited radical new theories of evolutionary biology, and as scholars began to identify the internal inconsistencies of the Scriptures―everything changed. Beginning with the archbishop who dated the creation of the world to 6 p.m. on October 22, 4004 BC, and told through the lives of the nineteenth-century men and women who found and argued about these seemingly impossible, history-rewriting fossils, Impossible Monsters reveals the central role of dinosaurs and their discovery in toppling traditional religious authority, and in changing perceptions about the Bible, history, and mankind’s place in the world.

40 illustrations
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  1. Print length
    496 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Liveright
  4. Publication date
    July 16, 2024
  5. Dimensions
    6.3 x 1.6 x 9.4 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1324093927
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1324093923
  8. See all details
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From the Publisher

dinosaurs, darwin, evolution, religion
dinosaurs, darwin, evolution, religion
dinosaurs, darwin, evolution, religion

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Michael Taylor offers an elegantly written, compellingly readable account of the ‘culture war between the guardians of orthodoxy and the agents of change.’ . . . The result, Mr. Taylor writes in his fine book, was a decadeslong ‘culture war . . . over humanity itself.’"
― Gerard Helferich, Wall Street Journal

"Taylor’s discussions of Huxley and Darwin are among the best sections in his ambitious, readable, and informative book."
― Brenda Wineapple, The Atlantic

"Impossible Monsters is a work of remarkable range. Taylor . . . belongs to that rare class of writers who can effortlessly encompass both scientific arcana and intellectual currents."
― Pratinav Anil, Guardian (UK)

"This splendid history of discovery tells a much-told tale better than it has been told before."
― Economist

"[Impossible Monsters is] a remarkable look at how sweeping social changes can come from strange and small beginnings. Anyone who thinks that the culture wars of contemporary times are being fought with unprecedented ferocity should take a look at this book. . . . Taylor ably conveys the ferment of the time, and he does so with respect to all concerned. This is an intriguing and accessible book, featuring many useful insights into how one age ended and another began. . . . With careful research, Taylor unravels how the discovery of the past pointed the way toward a new future."
― Kirkus Reviews

"In this stunning work of popular history, historian Michael Taylor shows how the discovery of dinosaurs triggered a domino effect that shook the foundations of Western culture. A most engrossing book of surprises and revelations."
― Steve Brusatte, New York Times best-selling author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

"An astonishing book about an extraordinary subject. Michael Taylor tells the story of the collision of science and religion in an age of change with authority, wit and verve. A delight."
― Peter Frankopan, best-selling author of The Earth Transformed

"An account of the discovery of deep time that is as thrilling as it is sweeping, populated by a brilliantly drawn cast of characters, and vivid with a Mesozoic bestiary."
― Tom Holland, best-selling author of Paxand Dominion

"Amazing. . . . Taylor paints the complex picture of the fundamental tension between religion and geology through the nineteenth century with verve and humor. . . . An important story that still affects us today."
― Michael Benton

"This book confirms what I've suspected for a while, that Michael Taylor is the most talented young historian around. This book dazzles in its originality and there is something you want to commit to memory on every page. A triumph."
― Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland

"A truly marvelous book: superb research and a sparkling narrative dramatize an epic battle of ideas and an intellectual thriller. Michael Taylor succeeds in reanimating those famous dinosaur wars of the nineteenth century with real brilliance, and makes them as fresh and furious as ever. Exuberant, stylish and brilliantly sustained throughout."
― Richard Holmes, best-selling author of The Age of Wonder

"A sweeping account of the discovery of dinosaurs and the horrifying depths of time, and their impact on god-fearing Victorians. Taylor marches us with panache from Bishop Ussher's impossibly young world to today's incomprehensibly old planet. We feel the awe and fright across society as the vast reptilian empires are brought to light."
― Adrian Desmond, author of Darwin's Sacred Cause

About the Author

Michael Taylor is a historian of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain. His first book, The Interest, was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Liveright (July 16, 2024)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1324093927
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1324093923
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.6 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.3 x 1.6 x 9.4 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 27 ratings

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Michael Taylor

Michael Taylor

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
27 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Dr. Roy Schreiber
5.0 out of 5 stars The World in Chaos
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2024
Verified Purchase
This first statement is for future advertising: Michael Taylor’s Impossible Monsters is a first rate piece of work. In easy to read language he writes about the people who gradually developed the concept of evolution. He also writes about the ones who fought this move away from the Biblical view of a godly, week long, total creation that began on October 22, 4004 B.C.

Having made the marketers happy, it’s time for the review. This book explores a recurring question: how do people deal with views that invalidate their long-held ideas on how their world works?

An early modern beginning point of this problem occurred when Europeans first found a much larger African continent than they had ever imagined. Then, to make matters worse, they encounter two enormous and well populated contents in the Americas. In the process their place in the world became much smaller.

Not long after these explorations, Copernicus moved the earth out of the central position in the universe. Once again the human world found itself in a less predominant position. A couple of centuries later came the subject matter of this book: the bones of ancient animals that no longer existed began appearing and thus threw Biblical views on the creation of the world and everything in it into question.

Initially this event created many more questions than answers. People tried to find a way to reconcile it with the Biblical view of how the world was formed. That became increasingly difficult. The remains of many varieties of vanished animals kept appearing. Anatomists examined this expanded collection and pointed out that many of these obviously terrestrial animals (that we now call dinosaurs) had a bird-like bone structure. Chaos followed. With the Origin of the Species, Darwin, controversially, began to bring order to it.

As the author points out, eventually discovery after discovery, and the ability to date them, made the evolutionary view too strong to overcome. Nonetheless, it is possible to argue that, at least in the United States, it was not until the Scopes “monkey” trial in Tennessee, a century ago, that the Biblical view of creation was largely (but never totally) displaced by the scientific one.

The evolutionary debate has one key element in common with the others. Whether it is coping with new continents, our place in the universe or our place in the animal world, each of these discoveries diminishes human beings’ image of themselves in the great scheme of things. People and our planet became just a small part of a universe too large to even measure. Naturally many people fought and are still fighting furiously against seeing themselves as an increasingly insignificant part of an ever larger whole. Impossible Monsters describes very well just one episode.
8 people found this helpful
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Tardigrade
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2024
"This magnificent tale of discovery tells an oft-told story better than it has been told before," says The Economist about this book. Well, I disagree, even though I liked it. Coincidentally, just before I started "Impossible Monsters", I read another recently published book on almost the same subject, which I liked even more - "Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party" by Edward Dolnick. So it somewhat spoiled the pleasure of reading Michael Talor's book, which I think I would appreciate more otherwise.

"Impossible Monsters" is a more typical history book than "Dinosaurs...", it delves deeper into some issues and also covers a longer period of time - but most of the revelatory thesis of the book is very similar to the ones in the book I've read before. And in my opinion, Dolnick did a better job of presenting them in a moving and thought-provoking way. But if you are interested in this period, both books are worth reading.

Thanks to the publisher, W. W. Norton & Company / Liveright, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
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Charles Carlson
5.0 out of 5 stars A Somewhat Unknown Tale of the Discovery of Dinosaurs and Their Lost World
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2024
Verified Purchase
This is a fun an interesting re-telling of the discovery of dinosaurs, and how that discovery changed Judeo-Christian mythology forever. Personally, I never really realized the full extent of how embedded the tale of Genesis was, nor the great flood, nor Noah's ark was in Western thought. Almost everything we know and accept about Earth dates from around the discovery of dinosaurs in early 19th century. Their discovery changed everything and brought about secular beliefs, that were completely antithetical to Christian religious dogma of the day. It's a revolutionary tale and I wish I had known more about it in high school. In the context of the discovery of dinosaurs, the discoverer is an unassuming female shopkeeper in coastal England, Mary Anning. Her discovery unleashes an intellectual storm that's changed the study of the natural world, and institutions of higher learning forever, and clears way for the likes of Darwin, Wallace, von Humboldt, and others, and long with social changes and the diminution religious thought and belief under the powerfully compelling evidence revealed by dinosaur skeletons that have, in turn, forever changed the way we think about planet Earth.
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Mike K
5.0 out of 5 stars Culture War between Religion and Science mainly in Britain
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2024
Verified Purchase
Vey informative history of the culture war between Science and Religion in the British Isles. The battle between conformity to the Anglican Church and Freedom of Rational Thought and Freedom of Free Thinking! War between the established order with its rigid rules and liberal reform of rationalism! Very thought provoking history! Very uncompromising examination of British Victorian Society and alk it's faults!
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SUZE
3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2024
If you are interested in the scientific history and understanding of dinosaurs this book may disappoint. I found the writing less than stellar, often confusing. The book concerns a story often told - about the conflict between the existing constraints of religious dogma and the scientific discoveries about creation (geology) and evolution (emergence of living beings). Nothing terribly innovative here, and too little about the study and undertsnaing of dinosaurs. For my tastes, too much biography and sociology of the time, and too little of the actual science of these fascinating "monsters."
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Kevin ONeill
5.0 out of 5 stars Great history, great read
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2024
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Impeccably researched and very well written, this is a first-rate history of science. Finding a book that does both the science and historically is difficult, but Taylor pulls it off masterfully. The basic narrative is well-detailed and chocked full of hitherto unknowingly necessary background. The related side-stories add to the depth and charm of the work and really make the main characters more than two-dimensional portraits of your science textbook. As an AP Euro teacher, I can't wait to bring some of the info and stories Taylor taught me to my own classroom.
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Top reviews from other countries

IMT
5.0 out of 5 stars If you are curious about the history of paleontology, this book is a must-read!
Reviewed in Canada on October 28, 2024
Verified Purchase
Best book available about the birth of Paleontology as an independent science and the big changes of paradigm that were necessary to accept the concepts of extinction and evolution of species
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