Bone Wars: The Excavation and Celebrity of Andrew Carnegie's Dinosaur

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University of Pittsburgh Pre, 2004 M04 1 - 288 páginas
Winner of the 2002 Spur Award for Best Western Nonfiction - Contemporary


Less than one hundred years ago, Diplodocus carnegii—named after industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie—was the most famous dinosaur on the planet. The most complete fossil skeleton unearthed to date, and one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered, Diplodocus was displayed in a dozen museums around the world and viewed by millions of people.

Bone Wars explains how a fossil unearthed in the badlands of Wyoming in 1899 helped give birth to the public’s fascination with prehistoric beasts. Rea also traces the evolution of scientific thought regarding dinosaurs, and reveals the double-crosses and behind-the-scenes deals that marked the early years of bone hunting.

With the help of letters found in scattered archives, Tom Rea recreates a remarkable story of hubris, hope, and turn-of-the-century science. He focuses on the roles of five men: Wyoming fossil hunter Bill Reed; paleontologists Jacob Wortman—in charge of the expedition that discovered Mr. Carnegie’s dinosaur—and John Bell Hatcher; William Holland, imperious director of the recently founded Carnegie Museum; and Carnegie himself, smitten with the colossal animals after reading a newspaper story in the New York Journal and Advertiser.

What emerges is the picture of an era reminiscent of today: technology advancing by leaps and bounds; the press happy to sensationalize anything that turned up; huge amounts of capital ending up in the hands of a small number of people; and some devoted individuals placing honest research above personal gain.
 

Contenido

DIPLODOCUS CARNEGII
1
THE FREEHEARTED FRONTIER HUNTER
12
THE MOST COLOSSAL ANIMAL
29
CULTURE IN THE IRON CITY
42
A LIZARD IN WYOMING POLITICS
52
UNCLE SAMS LAND
59
HEWN INTO FRAGMENTS
68
SOME GOOD LUCK AT LAST
87
NO MORE REEDS NO MORE WORTMANS
135
SOUTHERN DREAMS
144
WHEN THE FLAG DROPS
158
HEADS AND TAILS
179
CELEBRITY
198
EPILOGUE
212
MILESTONES
217
NOTES
218

THE AMPLE FOSSIL FIELDS
99
NOBLE CHAMPIONS OF TRUTH
118
PATAGONIA
123
BIBLIOGRAPHY
259
INDEX
271
Derechos de autor

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Página 15 - We are desirous of disposing of what fossils we have, and also, the secret of the others. We are working men and are not able to present them as a gift, and if we can sell the secret of the fossil bed, and procure work in excavating others we would like to do so. We have said nothing to anyone as yet....

Acerca del autor (2004)

Tom Rea, who grew up in Pittsburgh admiring the dinosaurs at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, lives in Casper, Wyoming, with his family. Now a freelance writer, for a dozen years he covered politics, education, and science for the Casper Star-Tribune, Wyoming’s largest newspaper.

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