万物简史英文版_比尔·布莱森- 第25节

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�a　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