The Bone Hunters, by Url Lanham

The Bone Hunters: The Heroic Age of Paleontology in the American West, by Url Lanham
Dover Publications, 1991 )unabridged, slightly corrected edition of book published in 1973 by Columbia University Press.
271 pages, Bibliography, index, b&w photos scattered throughout book
Library: 560.978 LAN 1991

Description
A century after the founding of the Republic, the United States was a leader in the science of vertebrate paleontology-the study of the fossils of backboned animals. In this lucid, nontechnical study, a noted popularizer of science and former curator at the Museum of the University of Colorado first reviews the geology of the western United States and provides an overview of American paleontology since the days of Thomas Jefferson.

Dr. Lanham focuses on the paleontologists themselves and the outstanding fossil discoveries that revolutionaized our understanding of vertebrate evolution. You'll learn how 19th century paleontologists struggled against hostile Indians, scorching summers and frigid winters, loneliness, isolation, lack of funds and other hardships as they excavated tons of fossil bones from beds and quarries in South Dakota, Kansas, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and other areas. While many eminent scientists are profiled, including SAmuel Williston, John Bell Hatchers, Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden and Joseph Leidy, much of the book is devoted to the explorations and achievements of Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward drinker Cope. These two brilliant paleontoligists, whose discoveries revolutionized the discipline, eventual became bitter rivals and the central figures in one of the most notorious scientific feuds of the century.

These and many other aspects of 19th century paleontology are covered in this fascinating and readable book. Easily accessible for the layman, The Bone Hunters will appeal to any reader interested in the behind-the-scenes drama and inspired scientific fieldwork that resulted in an explosion of knowledge about the nature and evolution of the prehistoric animals that once roamed the American West.

Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Scientist in the White House
2. Rocks and Fossils
3. Joseph Leidy
4. The Big Badlands
5. The Bone Hunters Come to the Sioux Country
6. Othniel Charles Marsh
7. Edward Drinker Cope
8. The Smoky Hill
9. Big Bone Chief
10. In Quest of the Great Sea Serpents
11. Bridger Basin
12. West of the Jemez
13. Marsh as Partisan
14. The Beautiful Judith
15. Super-Dinosaurs
16. "Dawn Horses" and Birds with Teeth
17. Prince of Collectors: John Bell Hatcher
18. The Triumverate: Hayden, Powell and King
19. Cope as Financier
20. Revenge
21. After the Battle
Bibliography
Index



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