Description
Book SynopsisAn infamous feud between fossil hunters is spun into a Dr. Seussinspired American tale in this playfulintroduction to fossil hunting based on an actual historical event. This first book in the Unhinged History series is a ripping yarnfull of adventure and deceitthat brings to life the best-known public spat in all of paleontology: the bitter rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. This frenzy of discovery and one-upmanshipknown today as the Bone Warswas a gold rushlike scramble to find the most and best dinosaur fossils, thus bringing to glory to their respective home-base universities. Lively and witty rhymes plus wonderfully demented illustrations reveal how the paleontologists' infamous rivalry began, and howdespite making genuine and lasting contributions to the fieldtheir mutual obsession with outdoing one another spun out of control.
Trade ReviewThis is truly history made fun. The whimsical rhyme turns man's folly to laughable learning. Greed and misguided ambition are sneaky culprits that can disrupt the best of times. Competition between Edward Drinker Cope of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, and O. Charles Marsh of the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale stirred quite a Bone War! Each paleontologist used less than ethical means to outdo the other, yet brought to the public the wonder of dinosaurs. The illustrations by G.F. Newland complement the great text so wonderfully, that it is a most entertaining lesson in (pre)historical events! -- Midwest Book Review, Children's Bookwatch
