From Siberian Prisoner to Dinosaur Egg Detective The Epic Odyssey of Karl Hirsch

About this book

The inspiring story of the man who doggedly sought the secrets hidden within dinosaur eggs.

From Siberian Prisoner to Dinosaur Egg Detective explores the fascinating story of Karl Franz Hirsch (1921-1996). After serving in the German army in WWII, being wounded and captured by the Soviets in Danzig and then sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in Siberia, Hirsch went on to become one of the world's leading experts on fossil eggs. After starting a new life in Colorado, Hirsch became an avid fossil hunter and one day discovered by accident a dinosaur egg. Armed with curiosity and a microscope, he began to study it. In 1979, at the age of 58, Hirsch published his first scientific paper on fossil eggs.

Hirsch went on to write dozens of influential technical papers and collaborate with professional palaeontologists at the University of Colorado Boulder and elsewhere. At his death, his immense research collection consisted of 35,000 photographs, 20,000 pages of notes, and 3000 fossil egg specimens.

From Siberian Prisoner to Dinosaur Egg Detective presents Hirsch's inspiring life story, demonstrating how brilliance and determination are key ingredients in the advancement of scientific understanding.

Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements

PART I: Headlong into History
1. Motherless Child
2. Wanderlust
3. War Clouds

PART II. Prisoner of Fate
4. A Journey of a Thousand Miles
5. Retreat, Recuperation, and Redeployment
6. Siberia
7. Second Birthday

PART III. Wild West Wanderings
8. The New, Ancient, and Wild West
9. Do It Yourself Paleontology
10. Eggs, Explanations, and the Shell Game
11. Light on the Subject

PART IV. Man of Letters
12. Dragons, Dinosaurs, Maternity, and the Dinosaurian Big Time
13. O is for Ovum, Oeuf, and "Ooh"
14. From the Gobi Desert to Egg Mountain
15. From Russia and China with Love
16. A Man of Letters

Epilogue: Egg Money
Appendix A: Bibliography of Karl F. Hirsch
Appendix B: Announcement of the Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters for Karl F. Hirsch
Appendix C: Karl Hirsch's Response on Receipt of the Harrell. L. Strimple Award from the Paleontological Society
Appendix D: Fossils Named in Honor of Karl F. Hirsch

Customer Reviews

Biography

Martin Lockley was Professor Emeritus in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences and former director of the Dinosaur Tracks Museum at the University of Colorado Denver and is Associate Curator at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History. He was the author (with Ryo Morimoto) of How Humanity Came into Being: The Evolution of Consciousness and Dinosaur Tracks and Other Fossil Footprints of Europe. Lockley passed away in 2023.

Bernie Spilka is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology at the University of Denver. He is the author (with Ralph W. Hood and Peter C. Hill) of The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical Approach, fifth edition.