History of Paleontology: The Bone Wars

Students will learn about the explosive rivalry between Othniel Marsh and Edward Cope.
The topics covered will be as follows:
1) The lack of popularity of dinosaurs at the time
2) How the railway would aid paleontology
3) Cope and Marsh's early friendship and the Hadrosaurus
4)Marsh's New Jersey fossil swindle
5)Cope's Elasmosaurus mistake
6)Marsh & Buffalo Bill vs. Cope & Ferdinand Hayden
7)The Unitatherium fight
8)Marsh, Darwin and the Hesperonis
9)Marsh's attempted thefts of Cope's fossils
10)Fossil destruction, the loss of hundreds of fossils through pickaxes and dynamite
11)Marsh makes Cope bankrupt
12)The US Government vs Paleontology itself
13)Cope's medical malaise and Charles R. Knight
14)Marsh dies of Pneumonia
My class will be structured along the historical timeline of these two men.
I will teach using mostly slides and images.
My teaching style can be described as interactive.
Learners will get to interact with me through a mixture of lecture and discussion.
No required experience or knowledge needed.