A lively account of the dinosaur’s role in Gilded Age America, examining the connection between business, paleontology, and museums. Although dinosaur fossils were first found in England, a series of dramatic discoveries during the late 1800s turned North America into a world center for vertebrate paleontology. At the same time, the United States emerged as the world’s largest industrial economy, and creatures like Tyrannosaurus, Brontosaurus, and Triceratops became emblems of American capitalism. Large, fierce, and spectacular, American dinosaurs dominated the popular imagination, making front-page headlines and appearing in feature films. Assembling the Dinosaur follows dinosaur fossils from the field to the museum and into the commercial culture of North America’s Gilded Age. Business tycoons like Andrew Carnegie and J. P. Morgan made common cause with vertebrate paleontologists to capitalize on the widespread appeal of dinosaurs, using them to project American exceptionalism back into prehistory. Learning from the show-stopping techniques of P. T. Barnum, museums exhibited dinosaurs to attract, entertain, and educate the public. By assembling the skeletons of dinosaurs into eye-catching displays, wealthy industrialists sought to cement their own reputations as generous benefactors of science, showing that modern capitalism could produce public goods in addition to profits. Behind the scenes, museums adopted corporate management practices to control the movement of dinosaur bones, restricting their circulation to influence their meaning and value in popular culture. Tracing the entwined relationship of dinosaurs, capitalism, and culture during the Gilded Age, Lukas Rieppel reveals the outsized role these giant reptiles played during one of the most consequential periods in American history. Praise for Assembling the Dinosaur “A penetrating study of legitimacy and capitalism in the realm of fossils.” —Verlyn Klinkenborg, The New York Review of Books “A solid entry into the growing body of literature on Gilded Age American paleontology, but it is particularly valuable for its contribution to enhancing our understanding of how science and its representation during that period were influenced by, and in turn affected, society as a whole. By incorporating cultural, economic, and scientific developments, Rieppel shines new light on the history of both American paleontology and museum exhibition practice.” —Ilja Nieuwland, Science

Lukas Rieppel shows how dinosaurs gripped the popular imagination and became emblems of America’s industrial power and economic prosperity during the Gilded Age. Spectacular fossils were displayed in museums financed by North America’s wealthiest tycoons, to cement their reputation as both benefactors of science and fierce capitalists.

The rhythmical text and lively, well-researched illustrations follow a paleontologist and his crew as they find, clean, assemble, and exhibit dinosaur bones. The read-aloud fun is accompanied by up-to-date facts about dinosaur fossils. Educational and inspiring, this story is bound to captivate little scientists.

A world-renowned paleontologist reveals groundbreaking science that trumps science fiction: how to grow a living dinosaur. Over a decade after Jurassic Park, Jack Horner and his colleagues in molecular biology labs are in the process of building the technology to create a real dinosaur. Based on new research in evolutionary developmental biology on how a few select cells grow to create arms, legs, eyes, and brains that function together, Jack Horner takes the science a step further in a plan to "reverse evolution" and reveals the awesome, even frightening, power being acquired to recreate the prehistoric past. The key is the dinosaur's genetic code that lives on in modern birds- even chickens. From cutting-edge biology labs to field digs underneath the Montana sun, How to Build a Dinosaur explains and enlightens an awesome new science.

Kids get to play chief paleontologist and put together five pop-up dinosaurs including a Triceratops, Stegosaurus and T-rex. Fun, interactive and with lots of facts to discover, this book is ideal for any dinosaur fan, budding biologist, or model maker. Full color.

Scholastic and the American Museum of Natural History join forces in a thrilling new picture book about the discovery of the Titanosaur -- the biggest, heaviest creature to ever walk Earth! Get ready to meet the Titanosaur -- the biggest, heaviest creature to ever walk the Earth! This book tells the story of the discovery of this new dinosaur from the mouths of the paleontologists who led the dig! From its discovery by a local herder, to the organization and completion of the excavation, this riveting story will have readers on the edge of their seats, and the beautifully painted illustrations will mesmerize. The final spread will open up into a gatefold showing a photograph of the full Titanosaur skeleton on display at the museum. Chock-full of back matter like a glossary and extra information and photographs from the dig, and an inside jacket poster of the Titanosaur, kids of all ages will devour this book.

Read along, dig along, sing along! Young paleontologists and dinosaur enthusiasts are invited on a fossil dig, set to the tune of "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush." Hike the trail, scan the ground, and make a find--then discover how to build a T. Rex from its bones. Includes hand-play motions for sing-alongs and bite-size science sidebars.