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!

The Commercialisation of Sport Essay - 633 Words

The Commercialisation of Sport The commercialisation of sport is not wholly beneficial as it has many disadvantages to it. Commercialisation is the promotion and development of a product as a business within a market place. This is done by the use of sponsorship, funding, selling, publicity and advertising within the media, which is all rooted from money. People invest in sport not only for the success that comes from it, but for the great deal of money that can be made in the sport business, therefore money is of high importance in the sporting industry. With the commercialisation of sport comes money, which can be invested in the development of young talent so that they may improve to become†¦show more content†¦A company, who either sponsor a team or event, are promoted by having their company name or logo on the kits or on billboards. When these events are televised people see the company name, thus giving them effective publicity, therefore increasing business, which in turn produces more money. On the other hand, the commercialisation of sport also as many disadvantages, and it is a plausible argument that our country, o the world for that matter, would be much better off if sport hadn’t been commercialised in the first place. With all the money that is invested and gained from sport, the financial side is getting out of control. To commercialise a sport it needs to have top of the range equipment and kits that make people want to buy them. However, much of this equipment, leather footballs in particular, are stitched in third world countries where people ate being exploited for their productivity, and paid below the minimum wage. Moreover, these products are often being sold at extortionate prices for what they cost to make, but large companies don’t seem to be concerned as long as a massive profit is being earned. An example is the cities of Jalandgar and Batala in the Punjab, India, where the official minimum wage is 82 Rupees per day, and women are even paid four to five Rupees less than men. Child labour in poorer countries is damaging to the children’s health and education, so theShow MoreRelatedCommercialisation Of Sports For The United States1307 Words   |  6 Pagesis called the commercialisation. The process is segmented in various phases like production, distribution, marketing, sales and lastly the service to the customers after dispatch. The commercialisation of sports involves use, display and sale of sports items by different vendors to different sports persons. It enhances the income generation for the sports persons along with the vendors whose sports goods they use. 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Huck Jim Relationship Timeline free essay sample

I Miss Wagons slave I Shows respect for Jims psychic ablest I Hair ball fortune telling I Heck sees Jim as a slave and Is appalled that he had run away however he keep the promise he made I Well, I did. I said I wouldnt, and Ill stick to It. Honest Injury, I will I Sees Jim as company I Jim comes when Heck is very lonely and they stay together in the cave I Heck doesnt respect Jim I Heck puts a snake in Jims bed when he knows Jim believes its bad luckI Jim and Heck are friends. Jim is relived to see that Heck is safe. I He nearly cried he was so glad I Jim worries about Heck and wants to keep him safe I When I got all wore out wide work, en wide De calling for you, en went to sleep, my heart wiz moms broke bakes you wiz ISO, en I din Kerr no MO what become ere me en De raff. We will write a custom essay sample on Huck Jim Relationship Timeline or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page En when I wake up en fine you back aging, all safe en soon, De tears come, en I could a got down on my knees en kiss you foot, Xis so thankful I Heck sees Jim as a person with feelings and regrets hurting them. He apologizes for hurting Jim. I l done It, and I warrant ever sorry for It afterward, neither I Heck Is opposed to slavery and objects to Jim freeing his children I was sorry to hear Jim say that, It was such a lowering of him I Heck sees Jim as more than someone property I Heck doesnt give Jim up I Jim deeply cares for Heck and doesnt want anything to happen to him I He nearly cried he was so glad, but he warrant sure-prides.Said he swum along behind me that night,and heard me yell every time I Heck never questions leaving Jim, he only ever wants to leave the king and duke I Out with you, Jim, and set her loose! Glory bet goodness, were shut of them! I Heck is able to trust and confide in Jim about everything I That made me feel easy and satisfied. Focuses when they got to snoring we had a long gabble, and I told Jim everything I Heck doesnt see Jim as a slave. He sees Jim as a friend and Is on Jims side when the king and duke turn Jim In.I After all this long Journey, and after all wed done for them scoundrels, here It was all come to nothing, everything al busted up and ruined, because they could have the heart to serve Jim such a trick as that, and make him a slave again all his life I Heck deeply cares for Jim and decides to help him no matter what the consequences I All right, then, Ill GO to hell and tore it up. I Heck is devoted to helping free Jim I Heck will do whatever it takes to free Jim and help him get to his family I Heck sees Jim as equal I Heck says Jim is white on the inside I Hick Relationship Timeline By learned Description Proof/EvidenceAcquaintances views as property I Miss Wagons slave I Shows respect for Jims psychic abilities I Hair ball fortune telling I Heck sees Jim as a slave and is appalled that he had run away however he keep the promise he made I Well, I did. I said I wouldnt, and Ill stick to it. Honest injury, I will doesnt respect Jim I Heck puts a snake in Jims bed when he knows Jim believes its I Jim and Heck are friends. Jim is relived to see that Heck is safe.

Ode To A Nightingale Essays - Ode To A Nightingale,

Ode To A Nightingale ODE TO A NIGHTINGALE As one reads this poem of John Keats, the overwhelming feeling is the envy the poet feels toward the nightingale and his song. He compared the carefree life of the bird to the pain, suffering and mortality of men. He continually referred to Greek gods and mythology when speaking of the nightingale as somehow the Bird possessed magical powers. The speaker opened with the explanation my heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains my sense as he listened to the song of the nightingale. He compared his feelings to those of a person that had drunk hemlock or an opiate so that their senses had become dull, or as if drinking from Lethe-wards, a river of the lower world, which produced forgetfulness of past life. Keats compared the bird to that of a Dryad, or a female spirit, which was assigned a certain tree to watch over and whose life was so closely connected to the tree that if it were to die so would the Dryad. Or perhaps in some mysterious way the nightingale's song were some melodious plot to enchant his listener. He explained the reason for his envy as being happy in thy happiness or because the bird sang so beautifully with full throated ease. Keats longs for the effects of liquor draught of vintage with the taste of the country flora and country green which when consumed brings dance, song and mirth. He compares the song of the bird with the song of his poetry when he wishes to be full of the true?Hippocrene which was a mythical fountain on Mount Helicon that inspired poetically. He reflected on the belief that unlike his poetry, the nightingale's song would be remembered for eternity, because the Bird's tune would go unchanged, while his words would fade with time, so he wished that I might drink and leave the world unseen. Wishing to drink and disappear, to fade away into the forest dim, fade far away or rather to dissolve and ?forget we see how desired to escape from life and the problems that all men must cope with. He related how he felt about his life weariness, the fever and the fret and the fact that all men sit and hear each other groan. Some of his lamenting came from his despair about aging, how youth grows pale and spectre-thin, and dies; where but to think is to be full of sorrow and leaden-eyed despairs. In comparison to himself the nightingale seemed to have a life of ease, sitting among the trees without a care, simply singing. He told the nightingale to fly away for I will fly to thee, yet rather than be carried off by Bacchus and his pard the Roman god of wine and intoxication, he wished to be carried off by wings of Poesy. This Poesy refers to Keats poetry and he realized that he would not be able to compose while intoxicated, so he described this condition as the dull brain [that] perplexes and retards. Yet while he is with the nightingale and her sweet song already with thee! tender is the night he imagined the Queen-Moon ?on her throne, cluster'd around by all her starry Fays or fairies; for it is said that only during a full moon may one witness fairy dances. This alludes to the magical condition he believes the nightingale possesses and how she is able to lead him to this world of lore. At this time there is very little light to identify his surroundings, so his senses were awakened as he recognized the soft incense hang[ing] upon the boughs and detected the scents of the fruit tree wild, hawthorn, violets, the musk-rose full of sweet wine and listened to the murmurous haunt of flies. As he sat in the dark listening, he contemplated his death and related how he is half in love with easeful Death having written many times about him or call'd him?.in many a mused rhyme. At this time Keats thinks it is a good time to die and do away with whatever pain he may experience, as he said seems it rich to die to cease upon midnight with no pain

Pressured vs. Pressurized

Pressured vs. Pressurized Pressured vs. Pressurized Pressured vs. Pressurized By Maeve Maddox Many American speakers, myself included, have the impulse to laugh at statements like the following: Mendendez and Ensign try to pressurize the White House Should parents pressurize their children to get high marks in exams? We laugh because we think that pressurize should apply only to things like airplane cabins and pressure cookers. Some people who object to the use of pressurize in the context of psychological pressure often become quite testy in their criticisms: â€Å"I was pressurized into attending a girls college. I dont think she meant she had an air hose hooked up to an orifice to inflate her. The idea is that pressurize should be reserved for technology, while pressure is the only acceptable verb to use when speaking of psychological pressure. Neither British nor American dictionaries support the distinction. The online Oxford Dictionaries site offers the following among their examples of correct usage: Don’t let anyone pressurize you into snap decisions. People had been pressurized to vote. The online Merriam-Webster dictionary gives this example: Don’t let them pressurize you to do anything you don’t want to do. The noun pressure has been in the language since the Middle Ages, but the verbs pressure and pressurize are fairly recent coinages. Both verb forms originated in North America. The earliest OED citation for pressure with the meaning, â€Å"to apply pressure to, to coerce or persuade by applying psychological or moral pressure,† is from a Canadian publication dated 1911: Extreme protection brought the formation of gigantic trusts, which pressured the consumers, who are now in open revolt against that regime. The verb form pressurize was coined to describe the process of producing artificial atmospheric pressure. Pressurizing appears in 1940; pressurized in 1944. The use of pressurize to mean â€Å"to apply psychological pressure† is first documented in 1945: Thus, selective service continues to ‘pressurize’ recalcitrant military unfits into war plants. The use of quotation marks around pressurize indicates that the word was being used in a novel way. The most that can be said about pressure vs pressurize is that American usage prefers to reserve pressurize for technical contexts and save pressure for psychological contexts. Speakers and writers of British English don’t seem to be aware of any such distinction: A spokesperson of General Musharraf’s party said that fresh petition is an attempt to pressurize him to leave the country. He [Pravin Togadia ]also said that this election is the best time to pressurize political parties to ensure safety of Hindus. Brown’s administration â€Å"considered that any attempts to pressurize or lobby the Scottish government could be counterproductive to achieving this outcome Bottom line: Americans can continue to laugh at the use of pressurize in a psychological context, but British speakers are not amused. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:What Does [sic] Mean?8 Writing Tips for BeginnersAppropriate vs. Apropos vs. Apt

Five Police Convicted Of Murder in Thailand Research Paper

Five Police Convicted Of Murder in Thailand - Research Paper Example The police arrested the teenager mainly because of thieving a motorcycle. By hearing this news, the family members visited the police station and endeavoured to talk with Kiettisak. However, with this attempt, after certain days, the mutilated body of the teenager was found in the neighbouring province of the police station. In this particular situation, the family members of the teenager launched a campaign to investigate the above discussed matter with validated responses. It is worth mentioning in this regard that due to the initiative taken by the family members of the teenager in the form of launching campaign against the case, the court finally reached its verdict (Asian Human Rights Commission, 2012). The article provided valuable and relevant information about the justice system, which is currently prevailing in Thailand, can be gained. In this similar context, based on the article, it can be ascertained that the existing criminal justice system in Thailand represents the absence of jury system in the nation and the police are mainly overburdened with varied legal activities. This can be justified with reference to the article where the police officers were held responsible to investigate the matter, but the final verdict was viewed to be provided by the Criminal Court (Asian Human Rights Commission, 2012). Apart from this, it has been quite apparent from the article that it is quite possible to file any sort of criminal charge privately in Thailand, wherein cases are not essentially referred to a public prosecutor. This exactly happened in the case of murdering the teenager wherein his family members made deliberate efforts in filing the criminal case in the form of conducting campaigns to investigate the case and reach into a final verdict (Asian Human Rights Commission, 2012). Â  

The Centrality of Forgiveness Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Centrality of Forgiveness - Assignment Example He further states that both the oppressed and the oppressor risk spending the rest of their lives in self-imposed imprisonment unless they let go of the past and embrace the hope that forgiveness brings. In essence, Gould refers to forgiveness as a form of healing for both the oppressor and the oppressed that holds a future with hope. In the article â€Å"Five forgiveness assessments recommended for conflict resolution Processes† Gould provides detailed guidelines towards holistic forgiveness. He explains that to be able to forgive they must be aware of their subconscious perception of forgiveness. Such holistic forgiveness is very effective in resolving conflicts. From the discourse outlined by Gould, there is the realization that different people have different expectation from the process of forgiveness. It is therefore important to reconcile these expectations and seek for a common ground that will be amicable for the conflicting parties as explained by Gould. Gould also outlines that it is important that the healing for the conflicting parties take a higher priority even before they are persuaded to forgive each other. In essence, forgiveness should be a deliberate move by both individual without any form of external pressure and it should be preceded by