Edward Drayenk Kopp, an American paleontologist and professor of paleontology and geology at the University of Pennsylvania, discovered 1,000 species of organisms in his lifetime. The most famous of these is that he discovered dozens of dinosaur species.
But the scientist is famous for another reason: to frame each other for fossils and friends, setting off a "war of bones" in academia.
To this end, the two paid huge assets and almost went bankrupt.
Edward Drick Kop
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > runs a farm while students</h1>
Before introducing "Fossil Warfare", let's first get to know the protagonist Edward Drick Kop.
Kopp was born in Philadelphia in 1840 and was raised by his father and stepmother. He and his brother have a very good relationship, and the two have been mischievous together since childhood, and like to explore nature.
Their father owned a farm of more than 8 hectares, and this idyllic farm became a paradise for the brothers.
Observation notes from juvenile science popularization
Led by their father, they went to the farm together to observe the plants and animals and play together. Father also encouraged them to think, write, and develop their imagination and thinking skills.
The popular science that grew up under the influence of such family education has developed a strong interest in natural sciences, especially biology, and has also developed his stubborn, strong, and self-reliant personality since he was a child.
When I was in middle school, popular science often visited the "Natural Science College" in the United States. Yet he is "notorious" for his love of arguing with people and his unwillingness to submit to discipline.
The house where the young science popularizer lived
After graduating from high school, his father left him around, hoping that he would inherit his career and become a farmer. However, the popular mind of loving biology has long been on the farm.
While helping his father run the farm, he spent all his free time studying biology for himself. And his father, despite his opposition, continued to come up with money to fund his studies in biology.
After a few years of this, his father, impressed by his son's love of biology, finally agreed to pay for the popular science to be sent to Pennsylvania State University to study paleontology with the famous biologist Joseph Lady.
Popular Science teacher Joseph Lady
At the University of Pennsylvania, Science Popularization did not spend a lot of time learning theoretical knowledge, because after several years of arduous self-study, he had basically mastered the theoretical knowledge of biology.
Here, he made like-minded friends everywhere, participated in various practical activities, and followed his teacher, Reddy, on biological research.
As a result, when Science popularization was in his twenties, he was already famous in the circle. He has published a lot of very insightful academic papers and done a lot of amazing research with his teachers.
Prehistoric world in popular science reasoning
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > people are afraid of being famous pigs are afraid of strong, and the name of popular science makes friends red-eyed</h1>
With unremitting learning and enthusiasm in the early years, Popular Science discovered and named 1,000 species of organisms in a short lifetime, making indelible and great contributions to biology.
However, there are not many people who are popular, and some people are red in their eyes because of his youth and promising, and privately plot to "bring down" him. This man was his former good friend, Marsh.
Marsh is a dozen years older than Kop, and the two of them once studied in the UK at the same time, which is considered to be a year-old friend.
Marsh
However, after returning to China, Marsh has been precarious, has not made any major achievements, and compared with the young and promising science popularization, it has emerged from above and below.
One year, Marsh discovered many fossils in a mine in the western United States. He began to fantasize that when he arrived at this mine, countless fossils would be excavated, and his research would also attract the attention of the academic community, and from then on surpassed popular science.
However, contrary to his wishes, before he could make any big moves in the academic world, he heard the news that Kopp had spelled out the complete skeleton of the "duck-billed dragon" with his teacher Joseph Reddy!
Duck-billed dragon restoration
This is a great achievement that has shaken the entire academic circle, and Marsh is on fire with jealousy, but his academic research is difficult to match the popular science.
Finally he thought of a "good idea" for Chen Cang.
He came to the excavation base of Popular Science, nominally to visit and communicate, but secretly he bought the owner of the quarry and asked the boss to transport the excavated fossils to his laboratory.
Unknowingly, Marsh stole a lot of research materials that should have belonged to popular science. In this way, even if the academic research ability of popular science is strong, it is also "difficult for smart women to cook without rice".
The current site of the quarry
With the help of his uncle, who had strong financial resources, Marsh collected countless raw materials, gathered the highest level of experts, and conducted fossil research together, and finally gradually gained a certain position in the academic world.
However, he is not willing to give up easily, and he wants to completely "overthrow" science popularization.
At one exhibition, Kopp accidentally mounted the skull of a plesiosaur on its tail. Popular science teacher Rydy later personally published an article admitting this mistake, it seems that the matter is over, but it is not.
Marsh seized on this mistake of popular science, published an article to bombard science popularization, and accused science popularization with vicious words, which made it difficult for the strong-tempered popular science to feel uncomfortable, and felt humiliated.
So popular science also published articles criticizing Marsh and Marsh's research results, and in this way, the "fossil war" between the two people officially began.
A cartoon reflecting the "Fossil War"
In the decades that followed, the two people did not let the other, tit-for-tat, hoping that the fossils they had excavated were more and more valuable than each other's, and their own research was more meaningful.
They even dug up the same site, and in order to compete for the fossils, they did not hesitate to take their respective teams and fight with each other. Sometimes in order to prevent the other party from competing, some fossils in their hands will be destroyed so as not to fall into the hands of the "enemy".
It is such a vigorous "war" that makes two people turn against each other and has become the talk of future generations.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Kopp died young, and the war between the two friends was finally over</h1>
This "fossil war" finally ended with the untimely death of popular science.
In this war that lasted for decades, Marsh and Kop discovered more than 130 new dinosaur fossils, including more than 80 kinds of Marsh and more than 40 kinds of popular science.
It seems that popular science lost in the "war", but people in the academic community know that Marsh's discoveries were stacked with money. Poor science popularization is the winner who really relies on his own hands and knowledge.
fossil
The long-term struggle between Kopp and Marsh has made a tremendous contribution to biology. Their competition with each other contributed to the flourishing of biology in the United States.
Suddenly, the United States became the focus of the world's biology, which can be described as unlimited scenery.
However, in this vicious competition, the two people's respective teams also destroyed a large number of precious fossils in order to prevent each other from competing. We will never know what it means to lose these fossils.
Reference Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Drinker_Cope#Early_life
https://baike.baidu.com/item/ Fossil Warfare/3148594?fr=aladdin
http://www.doc88.com/p-2458202079125.html
http://www.360doc.com/content/16/0106/01/29684957_525891499.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_Wars
http://www.sohu.com/a/22686695_115428