A fine lecture at the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford, by Brian Regal. The title is “Crackpots and Eggheads: Eccentricity in Natural History”. Specifically, the talk is on monsterphilia among the early natural historians and taxonomists, which then fed into the field of early scientific cryptozoology among mainstream scientists, and which then spiralled out into amateur cryptozoology and various fringe belief systems. Regal tells the story vividly, though the various personalities and places involved.

54 minutes, 2011. There’s an .MP3 as well as embedded media.