''Truth and courage are what memoirs need and this one has them both in spades - The unforgotten boy: that is what makes this a book a revelation''ADAM NICOLSON-Wonderful, absolutely beguiling - I learnt a lot and really loved it-RICHARD HOLMES-Gloriously evocative- DAILY MAILWhat makes a scientist?Charming, funny and wise, in this memoir Richard Fortey shows how restless curiosity about the natural world led him to become a leading scientist and writer, with adventures and misadventures along the way.From a garden shed laboratory where he manufactured the greatest stink in the world to a tent high in the Arctic in pursuit of fossils, this is a story of obsession and love of nature, flavoured with the peculiarities and restrictions of post-war Britain. Fortey tells the story of following his father down riverbanks to fish for trout, and also of his father''s shocking death. He unfolds his early passions - fungi, ammonite hunting and eyeing up bird''s eggs. He evokes with warmth and wit
