Prospecting for dinosaurs -- Tea with the brontosaurus -- Andrew Carnegie's diplodocus -- Accounting for dinosaurs -- Exhibiting extinction -- Bringing dinosaurs back to life -- Conclusion: Feathered dragons

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Rieppel, Lukas (Author)
Format:	Book
Language:	English
Published:	Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London, England Harvard University Press [2019]
Subjects:	Carnegie, Andrew > 1835-1919 Geschichte Naturwissenschaftliches Museum Dinosaurier Exponat Fossil Paläontologie USA Carnegie, Andrew / 1835-1919 Fossils / Collection and preservation / United States / History Dinosaurs in popular culture / United States / History Science museums / Public relations / United States / History
Summary:	Prospecting for dinosaurs -- Tea with the brontosaurus -- Andrew Carnegie's diplodocus -- Accounting for dinosaurs -- Exhibiting extinction -- Bringing dinosaurs back to life -- Conclusion: Feathered dragons A lively account of how dinosaurs became a symbol of American power and prosperity and gripped the popular imagination during the Gilded Age, when their fossil remains were collected and displayed in museums financed by North America's wealthiest business tycoons. Although dinosaur fossils were first found in England, a series of dramatic discoveries during the late 1800s turned North America into a world center for vertebrate paleontology. At the same time, the United States emerged as the world's largest industrial economy, and creatures like tyrannosaurus, brontosaurus, and triceratops became emblems of American capitalism. American dinosaurs dominated the popular imagination, making front-page headlines and appearing in feature films. Business tycoons like Andrew Carnegie and J. P. Morgan made common cause with vertebrate paleontologists to capitalize on the widespread appeal of dinosaurs, using them to project American exceptionalism back into prehistory. Learning from the show-stopping techniques of P. T. Barnum, museums exhibited dinosaurs to attract, entertain, and educate the public. By assembling the skeletons of dinosaurs into eye-catching displays, wealthy industrialists sought to cement their own reputations as generous benefactors of science, showing that modern capitalism could produce public goods in addition to profits. Behind the scenes, museums adopted corporate management practices to control the movement of dinosaur bones, restricting their circulation to influence their meaning and value in popular culture. Tracing the entwined relationship of dinosaurs, capitalism, and culture during the Gilded Age, Lukas Rieppel reveals the outsized role these giant reptiles played during one of the most consequential periods in American history.--
Item Description:	Includes bibliographical references and index
Physical Description:	325 Seiten Illustrationen
ISBN:	9780674737587