Dinosaurs as Metaphor:

• Conception of the metaphorical "dinosaur" is still very much a Victorian/early 20th Century version of Dinosauria, not reflecting the changing scientific understanding:
• Huge, monstrous
• Primeval, powerful
• Mighty body but tiny brain
• Out-of-date

A long history of dinosaurs in the popular eye.

Dinosaurians in the Victorian Era:

• Pre-Owen "dinosaurs" thought of as unrelated giant lizards
• Owen's original 1841 presentation was to a general audience
• Dinosauria really became well-known via the Crystal Palace exhibits
  • Immediately showed up in political cartoons, books, etc.
  • Replaced other creatures (dodos, mammoths, ichthyosaurs) in this context
• Became the main attractions in museums, via Marsh, Cope, etc.

During 20th Century, dinosaurs got the reputation of being "kids stuff" and not "real science". Explosion in dinosaur kid's books, toys, etc.

Many popular (and generally youth-oriented) versions of dinosaurs in early 20th Century books (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, Edgar Rice Burroughs Earth's Core and Land that Time Forgot), comic strips, and movies galore:
Gertie the Dinosaur (1914, one of the first cartoons ever made):

The Lost World (1925, one of the first full-length stop-motion special effects movies) (some clips):

King Kong (1933: like The Lost World it used the paleoart of Charles R. Knight for the dinosaur models.) (Here is the classic "Kong vs. oversized Tyrannosaurus fight):

Another burst of dinosaur popularity (replaying the earlier one) in the 1950s, via American and Japanese monster movies.

The Dinosaur Renaissance:

• Name comes from an article in Scientific American from 1975 by Robert T. Bakker
• Represents the introduction of new scientific interpretations of dinosaurs to the public
• Caught on in the mid-1970s, and has proceded unabated:
  • Many popular science books, with many geared for adults as well as kids
  • Lots and lots of news articles
  • Changed the illustrated versions of dinosaurs in realistic and in cartoon form
  • The rise of computer generated graphics and digital film technology allowed entirely new types of special effects for:
    • Popular movies such as the Jurassic Park series
    • TV documentaries such as the Walking with Dinosaurs series and sequels
  • The Dinosaur Renaissance also led a lot of students to pursue careers in paleontology: more people working in vertebrate paleontology in general, and dinosaur paleontology in particular, than ever before

Why are dinosaurs so popular?

• Weird and wonderful
• Fearsome, but harmless, since "they are extinct" (okay, this idea fails under scientific scrutiny, but...)
• A way to introduce natural sciences in an entertaining way

(The last reason, of course, is the justification for this course!)

A Reminder: Don't forget that the final exam is on Dec. 15, THURSDAY!!, from 6:30-7:45!

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Last modified: 25 August 2011