Dinosaur Wars – American Experience

Dinosaur Wars – American Experience

Do you like history? If you’re a deep person, as I imagine all my readers are, then I’m sure you are. Do you like Dinosaurs. You are a carbon based human life form from the planet Earth, so I’m just going to assume your answer to this one is yes also.

Well, then I think you’re going to want to watch this episode of PBS’s American Experience: Dinosaur Wars. From their synopsis:streaming movie Transformers: The Last Knight 2017

In the summer of 1868, paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh boarded a Union Pacific train for a sight-seeing excursion through the heart of the newly-opened American West. While most passengers simply saw magnificent landscapes, Marsh soon realized he was traveling through the greatest dinosaur burial ground of all time. Ruthless, jealous and insanely competitive, Marsh would wrestle over the discovery with the other leading paleontologist of his generation — Edward Drinker Cope. Over time, the two rivals would uncover the remains of dozens of prehistoric animals, including over 130 dinosaur species, collect thousands of specimens, provide ample evidence to prove Charles Darwin’s hotly disputed theory of evolution and put American science on the world stage. But their professional rivalry eventually spiraled out of control. What began with denigrating comments in scientific publications led to espionage, the destruction of fossils and political maneuvering that ultimately left both men alone and almost penniless.

Riveting stuff. My only complaint is that I wish it were an ongoing series.

2 thoughts on “Dinosaur Wars – American Experience

  1. Wow! Fascinating!
    I would’ve liked to live in times when the world was still ‘new’ to people’s eyes and there was so much still left to (re)discover.
    And the story of those two paleontologists’ lives – sounds like an adventure novel.
    I’ll certainly try to watch this episode. Thank you! 🙂

    1. Please do watch it. It’s worth the hour or so of your time.

      “I would’ve liked to live in times when the world was still ‘new’ to people’s eyes and there was so much still left to (re)discover.” <- that would be nice for sure. Actually, I kind've live this way through my kid's eyes.

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