Adrienne Mayor

Adrienne Mayor is a historian of ancient science and warfare, and a classical folklorist who investigates natural knowledge contained in pre-scientific myths and oral traditions. Mayor's most recent books are Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Unconventional Warfare in the Ancient World (on the origins of biological and chemical weapons, rev ed 2022),  Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws: Classical Myths, Historical Oddities, and Scientific Curiosities (2022), and Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines, and Ancient Dreams of Technology (2018). The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World (2014), was awarded the Sarasvati Prize for Women in Mythology 2016. Her biography of Mithradates VI of Pontus, The Poison King, was a finalist for the National Book Award 2009 and won top honors for Biography, Independent Publishers' Awards 2010. Her research looks at ancient "folk science" precursors, alternatives, and parallels to modern scientific methods. Mayor's two books on pre-Darwinian fossil traditions in classical antiquity and in Native America (First Fossil Hunters and Fossil Legends of the First Americans) opened a new field within the emerging discipline of Geomythology. She's also a Research Scholar in Stanford's History and Philosophy of Science Program. Mayor's work has been featured on NPR and BBC, the History Channel, and other popular media, including New York Times, Foreign Affairs, and National Geographic; her books are translated into Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Hungarian, Polish, German, Italian, Turkish, Russian, and Greek. Mayor's research is featured in the National Geographic children's book The Griffin and the Dinosaur (by M. Aronson, 2014).