Curious boy who turned into a leading scientist );
PROFESSOR Richard Fortey has never been afraid to get his hands dirty.
From selling maggots at his father’s tackle shop to digging up fossils on school fieldwork trips, the award-winning palaeontologist, television presenter and author developed his lifelong love of nature in childhood.
Now the 75-year-old is sharing the story of how his formative years helped him to reach the top of his field, including posts at the universities of Oxford and Bristol.
Prof Fortey’s ninth book,
A Curious Boy: The Making of a Scientist, which is released next week, chronicles his first 25 years from a semi-rural upbringing to his first job as a fossil expert at the Natural History Museum in London.