Naturalist and adventurer Roy Chapman Andrews was born in Beloit, Wisconsin, in 1884, where he lived until he graduated from Beloit College in 1906. His boyhood interests in the natural world and his skills as an amateur taxidermist gained him rapid promotions from his first job, which was cleaning floors at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The man who later made history himself with his intrepid spirit, unparalleled explorations, and subsequent fossil discoveries in Mongolia from 1922 to 1930 was ultimately named director of that institution. His thirst for knowledge and adventurous nature took him to many remote areas of the world that had not yet been explored by outsiders. Bausum’s objective account of this complex person is abundantly illustrated with black‑and‑white photographs, most of them taken during Chapman’s expeditions. (Age 8 and older)

Renowned for his discoveries of dinosaur bones, whole fossilized dinosaur eggs, and previously unknown dinosaur species in the vast Mongolian desert, the daredevil explorer Roy Chapman Andrews is said to be the model for the movie character Indiana Jones.