The Bonehunters' Revenge: Dinosaurs and Fate in the Gilded Age

In preparation for an adventure in American Paleontology, this book was suggested to me as a way of gaining a broader understanding of that discipline’s start. I had recently read Url Lanham’s The Bone Hunters so I was familiar with the subject matter sufficiently to be familiar with the major players (Edward Drinker Cope - “EDC”) and Othniel Charles Marsh – “OCM”) of the founding and development of American Paleontology. These two giants of the field are credited with finding, naming and publishing the majority of the information regarding dinosaur fossils found in the US from the 1850’s – the early Twentieth Century. Their work was so important and groundbreaking that much of their research is the standard in the field today. What is also known of these two scientific pioneers is their years-long feud. Instead of cooperating toward advancement of a subject they both loved, they set themselves at odds over who would get the credit for what discovery. In reading TBH, I was struck by how a dusty, technical, largely dull (initially) academic endeavor could have become so widely known that the aftershocks of their battles can be felt 100 years after their deaths. This book addresses that mystery. Before it focuses its energy upon shedding light upon that shadow, however, it goes into depth to paint a picture of the work and contribution both EDC and OCM made to a new branch of science. The information concerning both professors given in TBH was touched upon, often in depth and always cited, but Mr. Wallace grants additional background that offers further clarity to the how and why the feud between these two men was so intense and so public. Where it not for James Gordon Bennett, “the sociopath publisher of the New York Herald,” the feud between Drinker and Marsh would have remained no more than a spat between two Academics whose egos needed to be massaged. Mr. Bennett, portrayed as one who cares more for publicity than relationship and measured his worth by the size of his bank accounts, saw in the emerging power struggle between OCM and EDC as a way of selling newspapers (and increasing his wealth). Never one to let journalistic ethics or fair work practice stand in the way of getting what he wanted, Mr. Bennett created - by using hyperbole, misquotes, gossip, incomplete research – a major news story from what deserved to be no more than a footnote in an obscure professional journal.Neither EDC nor OCM were blameless in the promotion of this “scandal.” Both were wronged and exerted much effort to injure the other’s reputation. Both manipulated the political contacts they had to seek the upper hand in a conflict that spawned interest for less than a week (when it was written) but whose imprint continues to be felt today. Mr. Bennett cared little for the content of the dispute. He cared greatly that that dispute last as long as it being reported caused the selling of his papers.After reading this book, it occurred to me that there has been little change in the ensuing 125 years since the Marsh/Cope wars was reported upon. Information is only important to the media as long as, and only to the extent of, it’s worth as a commodity. Conflict, graft, governmental malfeasance, petty feuds are front page news, until the next dark cloud is spotted.Were it not for the conflict between Dr. Marsh and Dr. Cope, would the interest in paleontology be as great in the US as it presently is? Did Mr. Bennett’s greed serve the greater purpose, albeit unintended, of causing interest in a new field of study when that field was in its infancy? The best thing that arose from the works of OCM and EDC was not their life-long shouting match; it was the contributions they made to how life developed on this planet. It takes work to see through the smoke of headlines to see what the real story is. Perhaps I will remember that when as I watch the upcoming election “debates.”

Perhaps I read this book for the wrong reason. I've been reading my way through Steven Jay Gould's essay collections, and recently started on Fortey as well. Both are keenly interested in science not only for its own sake, but also as a human activity, both influenced by and influencing the society and culture of the moment. I don't always agree with their conclusions (particularly Gould's), but I always learn something, both about science and about its practitioners.After many references to Cope and Marsh, it became obvious to me that there was a story here worthy of checking out for its own sake: arguably the two greatest palentologists of their age, locked in a decades-long feud. This book got good reviews, so I gave it a shot.I did learn a lot more than I had known about Cope and Marsh, but frankly didn't learn a thing that I was interested in. Wallace's emphasis here is simply the feud itself, and even more particularly, a brief public battle that was waged between them for a couple of weeks in the pages of one of the day's scandal-prone newspapers. Wallace devotes 4 of the book's 20 chapters to this episode, as well devoting the book's prologue to the editor of the paper in question.On the other hand, he devotes virtually no space to their actual professional lives, their publications, their theories, and the significance of their work. He's quite interested in Cope's futile struggles with Congress at one point, and in how the newspaper battle ultimately led to the decline in fortunes of John Wesley Powell. In another section he includes a line drawing of Marsh's reconstruction of a Brontosaurus, which more recently turned out to be an Apatasaurus with the wrong head, but doesn't show what the corrected skeleton should have looked like.A final point which continued to irritate me was Wallace's use of the principals' first names throughout the book. Their full names were Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, and in my admittedly limited experience are usually referred to by their initials, E. D. Cope and O. C. March. Othniel, in particular, is hardly a common name. Although more frequently using their last names, as is customary, perhaps 10-20% of the time Wallace refers to them as Edward and Othniel. This implies a degree of familiarity and/or superiority on the part of the author which is altogether unwarranted, and set my teeth on edge every time.In sum, Cope and Marsh clearly weren't saints, and clearly were products of their time, but they were perhaps the most highly respected American paleontologists of the 19th Century, and this book gives little indication of why.

While this is well trod ground, still this author has brought together some new historical information of the times that gives some interesting color to the story and some insight to the natures of Cope's and Marsh's reactions to each other's research. A very good read.

This is one of the best books I've read about the development of a branch of science. It's humorous, though rye, and very entertaining. I'm reading it after reading another of David Rains Wallace's books about Chuckwallas in the California Desert.

thanks

Bought for son for school project.

Wallace paints a picture of the bone wars between two great paleontologists and what began their rivalry and how they went about their rivalry. He also provides insights into the personas of each of these two men and and what drove them into this rivalry and the affects that it had on each of them.