Mary Anning and the men of science
 

Mary Anning (1799-1847) was a largely self-educated, working class woman from Lyme Regis who became the greatest fossil-hunter the world has ever known.  She worked as a respected professional alongside people outside her social class – unusual for her time.

This exhibition explores Mary's relationships with the great men of science of her day – William Buckland, William Conybeare and Henry de la Beche. It includes unique Mary Anning material on loan from other museums and features the newly-conserved coprolite (fossil dung) table owned by Buckland. 

For fun, there is a 3-D re-creation of de la Beche’s famous vision of ancient Dorset Duria Antiquior, created by artist Darrell Wakelam in partnership with local children. (see above right)

This exhibition is supported by a grant from the Royal Society and runs from 23 October to 6 June 2011.

View the exhibition boards to get a better understanding of what is on show :

Introduction       Mary Anning      Duria Antiquior     The Royal Society    The Study of Science

The Fossils and Rocks page holds more information in the Museum on fossils,