Foreword by Matthew C. Lamanna New Afterword by Tom Rea Less than one hundred years ago, Diplodocus carnegii—named after industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie—was the most famous dinosaur on the planet. The most complete fossil skeleton unearthed to date, and one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered, Diplodocus was displayed in a dozen museums around the world and viewed by millions of people. Bone Wars explains how a fossil unearthed in the badlands of Wyoming in 1899 helped give birth to the public’s fascination with prehistoric beasts. Rea also traces the evolution of scientific thought regarding dinosaurs and reveals the double-crosses and behind-the-scenes deals that marked the early years of bone hunting. With the help of letters found in scattered archives, Tom Rea recreates a remarkable story of hubris, hope, and turn-of-the-century science. He focuses on the roles of five men: Wyoming fossil hunter Bill Reed; paleontologists Jacob Wortman—in charge of the expedition that discovered Carnegie’s dinosaur—and John Bell Hatcher; William Holland, imperious director of the recently founded Carnegie Museum; and Carnegie himself, smitten with the colossal animals after reading a story in the New York Journal and Advertiser. What emerges is the picture of an era reminiscent of today: technology advancing by leaps and bounds; the press happy to sensationalize anything that turned up; huge amounts of capital ending up in the hands of a small number of people; and some devoted individuals placing honest research above personal gain.

"A remarkable combination of incredible scientific detail and convincing fabrication. History buffs and dinosaur devotees will find much to love in this science-based thriller." —Booklist Rome, A.D. 306. Emperor Constantine converts the Roman Empire to Christianity. Over the next two decades, his armies destroy pagan idols across Europe and the Middle East. England, A.D. 1830. Paleontologist Mary Anning writes to Sir Richard Owen, describing a fossil that she discovered in the cliffs of Lyme-Regis. She writes that the fossil is a large wing made of black bone. Montana, A.D. 2023. Sixteen-year-old Molly Wilder discovers a mysterious fossil while on a summer internship. The fossil has a large wing structure, horned skull, and black bones. Neither famed fossil-hunter Derek Farnsworth nor renowned paleontologist Dr. Sean Oliphant can place it in a recognized dinosaur family. For 65 million years, the Badlands of Montana have held a secret hidden in their depths...

Montana, 1876. Othniel Charles Marsh, one of the two top paleontologists in the world, in the state's Judith River fossil beds, doing what he does best: digging up the bones of dinosaurs. Montana is a big state, but Marsh can't rest easy. Edward Drinker Cope, his biggest rival, and the other top paleontologist in the world, is also in the area, and there simply aren't enough bones for both of them, leading them to play dirty tricks. And time itself is against them: the fierce snows of winter are on the way and, rumor has it, so is Sitting Bull, fresh from his triumph at little Big Horn.Another complication: two foreign scientists are also competing for the bones. One says he's from Sweden, the other says he's from Iceland. One of them enlists Cope to help him, while the other befriends Marsh.Marsh and Cope don't want the fossils to leave the country, so they decide to bury the hatchet and work together to outwit the visitors. This turns out to be harder than they thought. The foreign scientists possess amazing technology, but that's because they are much more foreign than they claimed. They don't just want to take the bones out of the country -- they're fighting over who will get to take them clean off the planet.... . . a political thriller set in an alternate USA . . . humor . . . plenty of action. . . . -- Locus. . . a humorously insightful parody of human nature. His writing style is fantastic and his puns with names are a delight. . . . -- Southern Book Trade

Contains a graphic novel that presents a fictionalized historical tale of two late-nineteenth century scientists who fight over the discovery of dinosaur bones.

Relates the competition between Othniel Marsh and Edward Cope to discover more fossils, name more species, and publish more papers that brought out the best and worst in them and provided the world with a new view of life on Earth.

Wallace explores in exciting detail the rivalry between the paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Onthniel Charles Marsh--19th-century America's major scientific feud. Cope and Marsh independently discovered hundreds of dinosaur fossils on the high plains when the Indian wars were in full swing.

It was an age of counterfeit giants, corrupt politicians, and intrepid pioneers. It was a time of scientific ferment. The second half of the 19th century — the so-called Gilded Age — was a time when Americans were exploring the West and building a nation which stretched from coast to coast. It was also when scientists began finding dinosaur fossils across the western half of the nation. Could the answer to the history of life and the proof of evolution be found in these bones? That was the question two young American paleontologists — Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh — set out to answer. But what began as a friendly contest quickly turned into a bitter rivalry that would spill over into American science and politics and rage relentlessly for nearly three decades. Despite their Gilded Age celebrity, the names of Cope and Marsh have disappeared into the recesses of the library and archive. InThe Gilded Dinosaur, Mark Jaffe exhumes from those archives the notes, journals, and letters of these two great opponents to reanimate and retell one of the most fierce rivalries in the history of science.