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it also marked the start of a war between the two that became increasingly bitter；underhand； and often ridiculous。 they sometimes stooped to one team鈥檚 diggers throwingrocks at the other team鈥檚。 cope was caught at one point jimmying open crates that belonged tomarsh。 they insulted each other in print and each poured scorn on the other鈥檚 results。
seldom鈥攑erhaps never鈥攈as science been driven forward more swiftly and successfully byanimosity。 over the next several years the two men between them increased the number ofknown dinosaur species in america from 9 to almost 150。 nearly every dinosaur that theaverage person can name鈥攕tegosaurus； brontosaurus； diplodocus； triceratops鈥攚as found byone or the other of them。
1unfortunately； they worked in such reckless haste that they oftenfailed to note that a new discovery was something already known。 between them theymanaged to 鈥渄iscover鈥潯 species calleduintatheres anceps no fewer than twenty…two times。 ittook years to sort out some of the classification messes they made。 some are not sorted outyet。
of the two； cope鈥檚 scientific legacy was much the more substantial。 in a breathtakinglyindustrious career； he wrote some 1；400 learned papers and described almost 1；300 newspecies of fossil （of all types； not just dinosaurs）鈥攎ore than double marsh鈥檚 output in bothcases。 cope might have done even more； but unfortunately he went into a rather precipitatedescent in his later years。 having inherited a fortune in 1875； he invested unwisely in silverand lost everything。 he ended up living in a single room in a philadelphia boarding house；surrounded by books； papers； and bones。 marsh by contrast finished his days in a splendidmansion in new haven。 cope died in 1897； marsh two years later。
in his final years； cope developed one other interesting obsession。 it became his earnestwish to be declared the type specimen forhomo sapiens 鈥攖hat is； that his bones would be theofficial set for the human race。 normally； the type specimen of a species is the first set of1the notable exception being the tyrannosaurus rex； which was found by barnum brown in 1902。
bones found； but since no first set of homo sapiens bones exists； there was a vacancy； whichcope desired to fill。 it was an odd and vain wish； but no one could think of any grounds tooppose it。 to that end； cope willed his bones to the wistar institute； a learned society inphiladelphia endowed by the descendants of the seemingly inescapable caspar wistar。
unfortunately； after his bones were prepared and assembled； it was found that they showedsigns of incipient syphilis； hardly a feature one would wish to preserve in the type specimenfor one鈥檚 own race。 so cope鈥檚 petition and his bones were quietly shelved。 there is still notype specimen for modern humans。
as for the other players in this drama； owen died in 1892； a few years before cope ormarsh。 buckland ended up by losing his mind and finished his days a gibbering wreck in alunatic asylum in clapham； not far from where mantell had suffered his crippling accident。
mantell鈥檚 twisted spine remained on display at the hunterian museum for nearly a centurybefore being mercifully obliterated by a german bomb in the blitz。 what remained ofmantell鈥檚 collection after his death passed on to his children； and much of it was taken to newzealand by his son walter； who emigrated there in 1840。 walter became a distinguished kiwi；eventually attaining the office of minister of native affairs。 in 1865 he donated the primespecimens from his father鈥檚 collection； including the famous iguanodon tooth； to the colonialmuseum （now the museum of new zealand） in wellington； where they have remained eversince。 the iguanodon tooth that started it all鈥攁rguably the most important tooth inpaleontology鈥攊s no longer on display。
of course dinosaur hunting didn鈥檛 end with the deaths of the great nineteenth…century fossilhunters。 indeed； to a surprising extent it had only just begun。 in 1898； the year that fellbetween the deaths of cope and marsh； a trove greater by far than anything found before wasdiscovered鈥攏oticed； really鈥攁t a place called bone cabin quarry； only a few miles frommarsh鈥檚 prime hunting ground at o bluff； wyoming。 there； hundreds and hundreds offossil bones were to be found weathering out of the hills。 they were so numerous； in fact； thatsomeone had built a cabin out of them鈥攈ence the name。 in just the first two seasons； 100；000pounds of ancient bones were excavated from the site； and tens of thousands of pounds morecame in each of the half dozen years that followed。
the upshot is that by the turn of the twentieth century； paleontologists had literally tons ofold bones to pick over。 the problem was that they still didn鈥檛 have any idea how old any ofthese bones were。 worse； the agreed ages for the earth couldn鈥檛 fortably support thenumbers of eons and ages and epochs that the past obviously contained。 if earth were reallyonly twenty million years old or so； as the great lord kelvin insisted； then whole orders ofancient creatures must have e into being and gone out again practically in the samegeological instant。 it just made no sense。
other scientists besides kelvin turned their minds to the problem and came up with resultsthat only deepened the uncertainty。 samuel haughton； a respected geologist at trinity collegein dublin； announced an estimated age for the earth of 2；300 million years鈥攚ay beyondanything anybody else was suggesting。 when this was drawn to his attention； he recalculatedusing the same data and put the figure at 153 million years。 john joly； also of trinity； decidedto give edmond halley鈥檚 ocean salts idea a whirl； but his method was based on so manyfaulty assumptions that he was hopelessly adrift。 he calculated that the earth was 89 millionyears old鈥攁n age that fit neatly enough with kelvin鈥檚 assumptions but unfortunately not withreality。
such was the confusion that by the close of the nineteenth century； depending on whichtext you consulted； you could learn that the number of years that stood between us and thedawn of plex life in the cambrian period was 3 million； 18 million； 600 million； 794million； or 2。4 billion鈥攐r some other number within that range。 as late as 1910； one of themost respected estimates； by the american george becker； put the earth鈥檚 age at perhaps aslittle as 55 million years。
just when matters seemed most intractably confused； along came another extraordinaryfigure with a novel approach。 he was a bluff and brilliant new zealand farm boy namedernest rutherford； and he produced pretty well irrefutable evidence that the earth was at leastmany hundreds of millions of years old； probably rather more。
remarkably； his evidence was based on alchemy鈥攏atural； spontaneous； scientificallycredible； and wholly non…occult； but alchemy nonetheless。 newton； it turned out； had not beenso wrong after all。 and exactly how that came to be is of course another story。
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7 ELEMENTAL MATTERSCHEMISTRY
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as an earnest and respectable science is often said to date from 1661； whenrobert boyle of oxford published the sceptical chymist 鈥攖he first work to distinguishbetween chemists and alchemists鈥攂ut it was a slow and often erratic transition。 into theeighteenth century scholars could feel oddly fortable in both camps鈥攍ike the germanjohann becher； who produced an unexceptionable work on mineralogy called physicasubterranea ； but who also was certain that； given the right materials； he could make himselfinvisible。
perhaps nothing better typifies the strange and often accidental nature of chemical sciencein its early days than a discovery made by a german named hennig brand in 1675。 brandbecame convinced that gold could somehow be distilled from human urine。 （the similarity ofcolor seems to have been a factor in his conclusion。） he assembled fifty buckets of humanurine； which he kept for months in his cellar。 by various recondite processes； he converted theurine first into a noxious paste and then into a translucent waxy substance。 none of it yieldedgold； of course； but a strange and interesting thing did happen。 after a time； the substancebegan to glow。 moreove