Dino Talk

This week we were asked to consider the rise of the dinosaur, especially in popular imagination. For me, the most apparent image of dinosaurs in this early period is how their design often seemed ridiculous and fanciful. Charles Knight's dinosaurs offered a peek into how earlier audiences must have seen dinosaurs, but they were also regarded as inaccurate. After viewing these images and reading about the Crystal Palace Dinosaur Tribute, I got the feeling that people of this time period were so fascinated with portraying the dinosaur as a most spectacular being. Perhaps their realistic appearance was not a concern -- whatever appearance would garner the most attention seemed to be the philosophy of those times. However, I understood where this sentiment comes from...

The discovery of fossils and the formulation of dinosaurs must have been an earth-shattering notion to the people of those times. People wanted to know what these beings that inhabited our planet long before we did looked like. I believe that this is a sentiment that holds true today. Young children are introduced to dinosaurs early on in school. I remember my own experience -- dinosaurs seemed to be these "playful" creatures. They often seemed like animals that jumped right out of a child's imagination, and I can see the appeal they have on children. As a child we would pick our favorite dinosaur and often tell each other proudly on the playgrounds. As I grew older, my fascination with dinosaurs fell by the wayside. They seemed to be an obsession for kids, but not for the older teen that I was becoming. As I grew older, I began to see dinosaurs in a new light. No longer did I solely concern myself with what my favorite dinosaur did, but I began to learn more about their beginnings and their untimely end. Even as I started to learn about evolution, I saw dinosaurs as just a mark on the timetable of our planet -- they played their necessary role and met their end in the natural rise and fall of species so seen by evolution. I began to study their relation to the grand scheme of things more, although I sometimes wish I could return to those days on the playground where my and my friends argued over the "best" dinosaur.

Portrait of a Genius

If I had the opportunity to pick a portrait to hang in the Fred Jones, Jr. Museum, I would pick the portrait of Edward Bromfield. First and foremost, Edward Bromfield displayed extreme acuity and intelligence with his vast improvements to the microscope - an invaluable tool in the field of science. I believe his portrait is important because it shows him gesturing to a microscope, deeming it important and valuable to society and further scientific developments. Furthermore, his style of clothing has been mentioned to mark him a man of "studious habit" and genius. I think that it is this emulation of genius that makes this portrait interesting to the realm of science. Here is a man who has made valuable contributions to science and has been marked by them. It is these conclusions that I would advise a tour guide to help his audience realize while showing them this portrait in the museum.

Einstein: An Appropriate Image of Science

As a Zoology major I thought I had seen enough of science for a lifetime. I have studied the nitty gritty details of the inner workings of the cell, charted the evolution of our species from their humble beginnings, and written out those impossible organic chemistry reactions over a hundred times. I thought I was just about done with science and had no desire to see it imparted in everything I see. However, an image of Einstein seems to be an unequivocal image of science. I like this image particularly because it is almost as if we catch Einstein in the middle of a scientific discovery – Einstein looks over his shoulder almost unexpectedly. It’s refreshing to see a genius like Einstein so surprised at being intruded on – we see the scientific processing happening in the moment. This is the image of scientists and science I like to see: the process of developing the breakthroughs that change our world.