andrewringrose

If you remember your movie trivia, you know the slogan: “If adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones!” Well, long before fedora-wearing, revolver-toting Harrison Ford traveled to the far reaches of the world looking for lost antiquities, there was Roy Chapman Andrews. Many believe that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg patterned their celluloid adventurer after this charismatic American explorer-scientist. Sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History and wealthy patrons, Chapman organized and led the Central Asian Expeditions: a series of five trips into uncharted territory in remote China, Mongolia and the Gobi Desert enduring “blistering heat, icy blizzards, sandstorms, snakes, flash floods, marauding bandits, civil war, political intrigue, thievery, bribery.” Along the way they discovered many treasures including the fossil-rich Mongolian “Flaming Cliffs” and the first fossilized Velociraptor later made famous in another Spielberg movie. Excellent biography. Fun armchair adventure story.

2022-10-11 11:40