How the new world became old : the deep time revolution in America / Caroline Winterer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Winterer, Caroline, 1966- author.

Series:

Princeton modern knowledge

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--Civilization--Historiography--19th century.

United States.

United States--Intellectual life--Historiography--19th century.

Science and civilization--History--19th century.

Science and civilization.

Geology--Social aspects--United States--History--19th century.

Geology.

Paleontology--Social aspects--United States--History--19th century.

Paleontology.

Earth sciences--United States--History--19th century.

Earth sciences.

Physical Description:

vii, 356 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), map (some color) ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2024]

Summary:

"During the nineteenth century, Americans were shocked to learn that the land beneath their feet had once been stalked by terrifying beasts. T. rex and Brontosaurus ruled the continent. North America was home to saber-toothed cats and woolly mammoths, great herds of camels and hippos, and sultry tropical forests now fossilized into massive coal seams. How the New World Became Old tells the extraordinary story of how Americans discovered that the New World was not just old--it was a place rooted in deep time. In this panoramic book, Caroline Winterer traces the history of an idea that today lies at the heart of the nation's identity as a place of primordial natural beauty. Europeans called America the New World, and literal readings of the Bible suggested that Earth was only six thousand years old. Winterer takes readers from glacier-capped peaks in Yosemite to Alabama slave plantations and canal works in upstate New York, describing how naturalists, explorers, engineers, and ordinary Americans unearthed a past they never suspected, a history more ancient than anyone ever could have imagined. Drawing on archival evidence ranging from unpublished field notes and letters to early stratigraphic diagrams, How the New World Became Old reveals how the deep time revolution ushered in profound changes in science, literature, art, and religion, and how Americans came to realize that the New World might in fact be the oldest world of all." - Publisher's website.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-330) and index.

ISBN:

9780691199672

0691199671

OCLC:

1416626568