The 19th Century Bone Wars

When most people think of the Wild West, they picture Buffalo Bill, Jesse James, and caravans of settlers in covered wagons. But for paleontologists, the American west in the late 19th century conjures up one image above all: the enduring rivalry between two of this countrys greatest fossil hunters, Othniel C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope. The Bone Wars, as their feud became known, stretched from the 1870s well into the 1890s, and resulted in hundreds of new dinosaur finds--not to mention reams of bribery, trickery, and outright theft, as well get to later. (Knowing a good subject when it sees one, HBO recently announced plans for a movie version of the Bone Wars starring James Gandolfini and Steve Carell; sadly, Gandolfinis sudden death has put the project in limbo.) In the beginning, Marsh and Cope were cordial, if somewhat wary, colleagues, having met in Germany in 1864 (at the time, western Europe, not the United States, was at the forefront of paleontology research). Part of the trouble stemmed from their different backgrounds: Cope was born into a wealthy Quaker family in Pennsylvania, while Marshs family in upstate New York was comparatively poor (albeit with a very rich uncle, who enters the story later). Its probable that, even then, Marsh considered Cope a bit of a dilettante, not really serious about paleontology, while Cope saw Marsh as too rough and uncouth to be a true scientist. The Fateful Elasmosaurus Most historians trace the start of the Bone Wars to 1868, when Cope reconstructed a strange fossil sent to him from Kansas by a military doctor. Naming the specimen Elasmosaurus, he placed its skull on the end of its short tail, rather than its long neck (to be fair to Cope, to that date no had ever seen an aquatic reptile with such out-of-whack proportions). When he discovered this error, Marsh (as the legend goes) humiliated Cope by pointing it out in public, at which point Cope tried to buy (and destroy) every copy of the scientific journal in which he had published his incorrect reconstruction. This makes for a good story--and the fracas over Elasmosaurus certainly contributed to the enmity between the two men--but the Bone Wars likely started on a more serious note. Cope had discovered the fossil site in New Jersey that yielded the fossil of Hadrosaurus, named by the two mens mentor, the famous paleontologist Joseph Leidy. When he saw how many bones had yet to be recovered from the site, Marsh paid the excavators to send any interesting finds to him, rather than to Cope. Cope soon found out about this gross violation of scientific decorum, and the Bone Wars began in earnest. Into the West What kicked the Bone Wars into high gear was the discovery, in the 1870s, of numerous dinosaur fossils in the American west (some of these finds were made accidentally, during excavation work for the Transcontinental Railroad). In 1877, Marsh received a letter from Colorado schoolteacher Arthur Lakes, describing the saurian bones he had found during a hiking expedition; Lakes sent sample fossils to both Marsh and (because he didn’t know if Marsh was interested) Cope. Characteristically, Marsh paid Lakes $100 to keep his discovery a secret--and when he discovered that Cope had been notified, dispatched an agent west to secure his claim. Around the same time, Cope was tipped off to another fossil site in Colorado, which Marsh tried (unsuccessfully) to horn in on. By this time, it was common knowledge that Marsh and Cope were competing for the best dinosaur fossils--which explains the subsequent intrigues centered on Como Bluff, Wyoming. Using pseudonyms, two workers for the Union Pacific Railroad alerted Marsh to their fossil finds, hinting (but not stating explicitly) that they might strike a deal with Cope if Marsh didnt offer generous terms. True to form, Marsh dispatched another agent, who made the necessary financial arrangements--and soon the Yale-based paleontologist was receiving boxcars of fossils, including the first specimens of Diplodocus, Allosaurus and Stegosaurus. Word about this exclusive arrangement soon spread--not least because the Union Pacific employees leaked the scoop to a local newspaper, exaggerating the prices Marsh had paid for the fossils in order to bait the trap for the wealthier Cope. Soon, Cope sent his own agent westward, and when these negotiations proved unsuccessful (possibly because he wasnt willing to pony up enough money), he instructed his prospector to engage in a bit of fossil-rustling and steal bones from the Como Bluff site, right under Marshs nose. Soon afterward, fed up with Marshs erratic payments, one of the railroad men began working for Cope instead, turning Como Bluff into the epicenter of the Bone Wars. By this time, both Marsh and Cope had relocated westward, and over the next few years engaged in such hijinks as deliberately destroying uncollected fossils and fossil sites (so as to keep them out of each others hands), spying on each others excavations, bribing employees, and even stealing bones outright. According to one account, workers on the rival digs once took time out from their labors to pelt each other with stones! Next Page: The Bone Wars Get Personal Cope and Marsh, Bitter Enemies to the Last By the 1880’s, it was clear that Othniel C. Marsh was winning the Bone Wars. Thanks to the support of his wealthy uncle, George Peabody (who lent his name to the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History), Marsh could hire more employees and open more dig sites, while Edward Drinker Cope slowly but surely fell behind. It didnt help matters that other parties, including a team from Harvard University, now joined the dinosaur gold rush. Cope continued to publish numerous papers, but, like a political candidate taking the low road, Marsh made hay out of every tiny mistake he could find. Cope soon had his opportunity for revenge. In 1884, Congress began an investigation into the U.S. Geological Survey, which Marsh had been appointed the head of a few years before. Cope recruited a number of Marshs employees to testify against their boss (who wasnt the easiest person in the world to work for), but Marsh connived to keep their grievances out of the newspapers. Cope then upped the ante: drawing on a journal he had kept for two decades, in which he meticulously listed Marshs numerous felonies, misdemeanors and scientific errors, he supplied the information to a journalist for the New York Herald, which ran a sensational series about the Bone Wars. Marsh issued a rebuttal in the same newspaper, hurling similar accusations against Cope. In the end, this public airing of dirty laundry (and dirty fossils) didnt benefit either party. Marsh was asked to resign his lucrative position at the Geological Survey, and Cope, after a brief interval of success (he was appointed head of the National Association for the Advancement of Science), was beset by poor health and had to sell off portions of his hard-won fossil collection. By the time Cope died in 1897, both men had squandered their considerable fortunes. Characteristically, though, Cope prolonged the Bone Wars even from his grave. One of his last requests was that scientists dissect his head after his death to determine the size of his brain, which he was certain would be bigger than Marshs. Wisely, perhaps, Marsh declined the challenge, and to this day, Copes unexamined head rests in storage at the University of Pennsylvania. The Bone Wars: Let History Judge As tawdry, undignified, and out-and-out ridiculous as the Bone Wars occasionally were, they had a profound effect on American paleontology. In the same way competition is good for commerce, it can also be good for science: so eager were Othniel C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope to one-up each other that they discovered many more dinosaurs than if theyd merely engaged in a friendly rivalry. The final tally was truly impressive: Marsh discovered 80 new dinosaur genera and species, while Cope named a more-than-respectable 56. The fossils discovered by Marsh and Cope also helped to feed the American publics increasing hunger for new dinosaurs. Each major discovery was accompanied by a wave of publicity, as magazines and newspapers illustrated the latest amazing finds--and the reconstructed skeletons slowly but surely made their way to major museums, where they still reside to the present day. You might say that popular interest in dinosaurs really began with the Bone Wars, though its arguable that it would have come about naturally, without all the bad feelings! The Bone Wars had a couple of negative consequences, as well. First, paleontologists in Europe were horrified by the crude behavior of their American counterparts, which left a lingering, bitter distrust that took decades to dissipate. And second, Cope and Marsh described and reassembled their dinosaur finds so quickly that they were occasionally careless. For example, a hundred years of confusion about Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus can be traced directly back to Marsh, who put a skull on the wrong body--the same way Cope did with Elasmosaurus, the incident that started the Bone Wars in the first place!

Corruption Of Power Essay - 1142 Words

The body, mind, and soul of an individual are capable of becoming corrupted by power. Power makes one feel as if that person was a God, which is a sign of the corruption in that individual. According to Lord Actin, Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, states that power can make an individual vulnerable to corruption. The second portion of Lord Actin?s quote discusses absolute power corrupting absolutely which implies that absolute power can corrupt an individual as well as the individual?s surroundings. This idea of corruption can be located in fictional novels such as Animal Farm by George Orwell. Animal Farm is a story about animals dictated by a former animal comrade. The dictator in the novel, Napoleon,†¦show more content†¦The absolute power Hussein possessed led to the absolute corruption of Iraq for nearly twenty-four years. During Hussein?s rule, 200,000 people were killed or ?disappeared?. Another major dictator was Adolf Hitler who dictate d and killed countless human beings. Hitler?s philosophy of thinking made him kill retarded, crippled, and disabled children along with homosexuals and Jewish people. The power that Hitler received when he became leader corrupted him and made him kill six million Jews, nearly committing genocide on the Jewish population. The corruption increased, with Hitler?s desired to expand Nazi Germany. In addition, the dictatorship and corruption caused by power is also expressed in fictional stories. Power corrupting individuals also applies to literature and fictional novels. One example of power causing corruption is found in a novel called Animal Farm by George Orwell. Animal Farm is a story about animals ruled and dictated by humans. Eventually, the animals overthrow their human dictator, Mr. Jones, and try to form their own government. After a pig named Napoleon was declared leader, he gained power which caused him to become corrupted. 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The play shows that even someone who starts out like Macbeth and does not crave power, will do terrible things to gain authority and power. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The play begins with the characters King Duncan and Malcolm talkingRead MoreCorruption and Power in Macbeth Essay775 Words   |  4 PagesPersonal power has the ability to be essential to greatness, and at the same time is able to destroy a persons nature. In the drama Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main character, Macbeth, becomes corrupt through power that he gains. The play shows that even someone who starts out like Macbeth and does not crave power, will do terrible things to gain authority and power. The play begins with the characters King Duncan and Malcolm talking about a good and hardy soldier (Act I: ii: 4). Read MoreJulius Caesar: The Corruption Of Power Essay916 Words   |  4 Pages Brutus, Cassius, Caesar, and the other Senators held the power to do things others could not. With this authority came their ability to use poor judgement. In William Shakespeare’s tragic play Julius Caesar the theme Power Corrupts is arrayed thoroughly. Murder, treason, and ethical/moral corruption were three prevalent themes that proved the overall topic of Power Corrupts. In Julius Caesar corruption led to dangerous outcomes, such as death. quot;Et tu, Brute? Then fall Caesar!quot; (Shakespeare

Undefeated Free Essays

Undefeated Being positive and a true believer in good things will always give you the best outcome in life. Johnny was always out in the court playing what he loved. Second on his team, he was the most recognized basketball player in the entire high school. We will write a custom essay sample on Undefeated or any similar topic only for you Order Now Johnnys passion towards basketball began when he was Just 8 years old. Always dribbling the ball around and playing with his friends, and never lost a game. During the school year, Johnny was determined to be his best in school but also to compete in the state finals. So to do that, he would come to the gym court every morning to practice. He hardly every missed a practice. Every day he would try his best to be healthy so his bones could be strong on the court. Johnny lifelong goal is to be a professional basketball star one day. The final game was Just a day away. This was to determine who was going to compete in the district finals. Johnny was as nervous as can be but he couldn’t stop from going out there. As soon as the game started, Johnnys team was in the lead. They were trying really hard to play their best. When a foul was called, Johnny was up for a free throw. While he threw the ball, a massive pain in his knee prevented him from continuing. He was in major pain and the ambulance was called to take him to the ER. Later that day, Johnnys teammates and family were as worried as can be. When the x-rays came in, it was noticed that Johnnys ACL was ruptured very severely. Followed by the recovery time and the surgery, it really impacted Johnnys mood. Although Johnny was aware that he had to stay positive throughout all of this. Thinking about the surgery â€Å"Finds, and shall find, me unafraid† kept him going. After the successful surgery, Johnny had only 2 months remaining until he could go back out on the court and play again. As tough as the procedure was, Johnny kept his head up and got through it. Johnny knows, because of his positive attitude and dedication to get better, he will be playing again Just like he used to. All the hard work pays off at the end somehow. One thing to know he said â€Å"I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul. † By mt6nesscaaa How to cite Undefeated, Papers

My Communication Skills free essay sample

My Communication Skills I believe communication is something really important in social life. Its something you need to use in regular basis. Many people are shy and think speaking isnt that important. It reflects in your career and many people have achieved to get better at socializing with one another. Speaking in front of a crowd might be sometimes nerve-racking but as a matter of fact is a very big responsibility. You need to watch what you say and how you say it to that particular person or crowd without anyone misunderstanding anything your saying. You just have to find your  best communication with your audience. My  brother was having a lot  of small group communication with his friends about the Super Bowl XLVII. I was just having  an interpersonal conversation with my sister in law. As the day advanced I started realizing  that I  have more interpersonal than intrapersonal communication. We will write a custom essay sample on My Communication Skills or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The variety of communications I have  did surprise me because I used many different types of communications through out the day. It seems like  every person  has different  communications than  the ones that you  may have yourself. I did find out that Im more involved in interpersonal than any other due to the fact that I can talk to my sister in law or my friends about anything. Having someone to talk to you through your difficulties is a big benefit in your social life. I feel as if I didnt have anyone to talk to around me then I wouldnt  be  too involved with interpersonal communication. They’re many people that don’t mind communicating with themselves than with the people around them. I prefer letting my thoughts out and share them with somebody else I trust than letting it build up inside of me. As I analyzed my conversations together I was more involved with interpersonal and small group communication. I think it happened that way because I’m more of a social person. I don’t like keeping things to myself all the time. I wasn’t surprised to know I used more interpersonal that day. I’m sure I do every other day. I like meeting new people and interpersonal or small group communication intend to lead me into that state. Sometimes talking to your peers is a positive thing because there are times that they might have something to share with you in return. To many people it might be every different than my results. Not many people like to socialize as much as I do. My opinion still states that if you are to make more friends and let yourself get out there into this world full of different peoples’ communications. You will just find the one that best fits with your personality or your career. Your communication skills come helpful in your occupations especially college. If you’re not ready to step up to the game then just stay in your stage for awhile and you’ll be out there in no time.