Bone wars : the excavation and celebrity of Andrew Carnegie's dinosaur / Tom Rea ; with a foreword by Matthew C. Lamanna and a new afterword by Tom Rea.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rea, Tom, author.

Contributor:

Lamanna, Matthew C., writer of supplementary textual content.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Paleontology--United States--History--20th century.

Paleontology.

Diplodocus.

Carnegie, Andrew, 1835-1919.

Carnegie, Andrew.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 online resource 321 p.)

Edition:

Twentieth anniversary edition.

Place of Publication:

Pittsburgh, PA : University of Pittsburgh Press, [2021]

Summary:

"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 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 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"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword by Matthew C. Lamanna

1. Diplodocus carnegii

2. The Freehearted Frontier Hunter

3. The Most Colossal Animal

4. Culture in the Iron City

5. A Lizard in Wyoming Politics

6. Uncle Sam's Land

7. Hewn into Fragments

8. Some Good Luck at Last

9. The Ample Fossil Fields

10. Noble Champions of Truth

11. Patagonia

12. No More Reeds, No More Wortmans

13. Southern Dreams

14. When the Flag Drops

15. Heads and Tails

16. Celebrity

Epilogue

Afterword by Tom Rea

Milestones

Notes

Bibliography

Notes:

Index.

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780822988472

082298847X

OCLC:

1262370153