Scan barcode
A review by betsyrisen
Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party: How an Eccentric Group of Victorians Discovered Prehistoric Creatures and Accidentally Upended the World by Edward Dolnick
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
“So in theory someone might have shouted “Dinosaur!” many centuries before the 1800s. But that’s unlikely, because discovering is not merely finding something; discovering is finding and understanding that you’ve found something.”
“A clue is not a clue until someone sees a mystery.”
“The dinosaur discoveries came out of nowhere, like the asteroid, and the public in the nineteenth century was scarcely better prepared than the dinosaurs had been. It was not just that such things as monstrous skeletons were contrary to experience. The shock was that they were contrary to reason. Such things could not be, because they had no place in a world that was, everyone knew, under divine supervision. Why would God have indulged in such follies?”
I always like to say that history is long but memory is short. It really is intriguing to think about a time when we didn't know what we know now - and imagine what we'll learn in the future! I enjoyed this book very much. The more obscure the history, the better, in my book (although it's only obscure to me because this isn't a thing I think about very often - which is, again, a good reason to start the year off with this book!
It was more wide-ranging than I expected, and I can't help but put myself in the shoes of these people. Imagine coming across a massive bone or three pronged footprints in your field!
“A clue is not a clue until someone sees a mystery.”
“The dinosaur discoveries came out of nowhere, like the asteroid, and the public in the nineteenth century was scarcely better prepared than the dinosaurs had been. It was not just that such things as monstrous skeletons were contrary to experience. The shock was that they were contrary to reason. Such things could not be, because they had no place in a world that was, everyone knew, under divine supervision. Why would God have indulged in such follies?”
I always like to say that history is long but memory is short. It really is intriguing to think about a time when we didn't know what we know now - and imagine what we'll learn in the future! I enjoyed this book very much. The more obscure the history, the better, in my book (although it's only obscure to me because this isn't a thing I think about very often - which is, again, a good reason to start the year off with this book!
It was more wide-ranging than I expected, and I can't help but put myself in the shoes of these people. Imagine coming across a massive bone or three pronged footprints in your field!