Originally published in 1966, this is a new updated edition describing the discovery and analysis of one of the largest assemblages of dinosaur and Jurassic mammal fossils in 1896. Since the first publication, further excavation has taken place at Como Bluff, Wyoming, which has produced new discoveries that hint at what still may be buried there. A detailed history of the excitements and disappointments of the long excavation campaign during the second half of the 19th century includes many extracts from letters, contemporary sketches and reproductions of most of the original lithographs. This is as much a history of palaeontology as it is a reappraisal of the fossil remains.

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.

Tells the story of two nineteenth-century paleontologists who used questionable tactics as they tried to outdo each other in collecting dinosaur bones.

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.

Providing an appealing chronology of "all things dinosaur," this book covers these ancient creatures' roles and surprising importance in science, religion, and society at large. This exhaustive, up-to-date book contains more than 2,000 entries about dinosaurs and dinosaur-related topics. It provides not only detailed information about their discovery, underlying science, and recent technologies and theories but also encompasses all of the facets of dinosaurs in society—for example, their use in consumer marketing and promotion, popularization of dinosaurs in the media, as "proof" for both evolutionists and creationists to substantiate their claims about life's origins, and as cultural artifacts. Organized chronologically, the book offers an informative and entertaining timeline of how dinosaurs have appeared in science, religion, and society since they were discovered in the 1800s, covering everything from dinosaur museum displays to how dinosaurs served advocates of young-Earth creationism. This fascinating work enables a broad appreciation for the surprising significance of dinosaurs in many aspects of our daily lives and modern society.