This is Throwback Thursday #257. In these, we look back into the past at ESCONI specifically and Earth Science in general. If you have any contributions, (science, pictures, stories, etc ...), please sent them to [email protected]. Thanks! email:[email protected].
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I was saddened to learn of the passing of Richard Fortey last week. He was a towering figure in the world of paleontology. His 2000 book Trilobite! Eyewitness to Evolution remains one of my favorites as it rekindled my love for paleontology and natural history. I first read it around the time my daughter began collecting rocks, which led to us joining ESCONI. That journey later inspired me to become a volunteer at the Field Museum of Natural History—a role I continue to cherish to this day.
I enjoyed reading all of his books, including Life: An Unauthorised Biography, Fossils: The Key to the Past, and The Earth: An Intimate History. He had a remarkable way of weaving together geology, paleontology, and science with engaging storytelling. What I found most compelling, however, was his ability to bring the history of scientific discoveries to life. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend picking up one of his books—you won’t be disappointed!
The Guardian has a very nice obituary. RIP, Richard!
Richard Fortey at the Natural History Museum in 2004. He worked there for more than 30 years. Photograph: Independent/Alamy
While on a school field trip to Pembrokeshire in Wales in the early 1960s, the 14-year-old Richard Fortey stumbled across his first trilobite – the 500-million-year-old fossil of a prehistoric marine animal. This chance event ultimately led him to a long and distinguished career as a palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum. He also forged a parallel career as an inspirational communicator via his books and TV series. His colleague Dr Sandra Knapp notes that “Richard was the definition of polymath”, while Bill Bryson thought him “without peer amongst science writers”.
Spurred by that childhood discovery, Fortey, who has died aged 79 after a short illness, became one of the world’s leading experts on trilobites and graptolites, another group of invertebrates found in the same rocks. In more than 250 scientific papers, he significantly furthered scientific knowledge of their complex evolution and lifecycles, while reaching a broader, non-specialist audience with his bestselling popular science books. The first of these was the 1982 volume Fossils: The Key to the Past, whose fifth edition was published more than 30 years later in 2015. Others included The Hidden Landscape (1994), Life: An Unauthorised Biography (1997), Trilobite! Eyewitness to Evolution (2000) and The Earth: An Intimate History (2004).
Relatively late in life, in his mid-60s, Fortey embarked on a new career as a television presenter on BBC Four series. Originally broadcast from 2012 to 2016, these were Survivors: Nature’s Indestructible Creatures, The Secret Life of Rockpools, Fossil Wonderlands, The Magic of Mushrooms and Nature’s Wonderlands.
Earlier in his career he had appeared in several programmes with Sir David Attenborough, and in 2004, he was a member of the Palaeontological Association team on University Challenge – The Professionals, which beat a team from the Eden Project.
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