Register to attend Professor Scott Persons, paleontology series on the history of dinosaur hunting and its greatest scientific rivalries!

Lecture 1: A New Find: Victorian naturalists uncover the first fossils of giant prehistoric reptiles. These early paleontologists struggle to make sense of what they have found and start to fight amongst themselves for the acclaim that the discoveries bring.  (Wednesday, January 17th)

Lecture 2: Cowboys and Dinosaurs : Completion of the transcontinental railroad links East Coast museums and universities with the fossil-rich deserts of the West. Two scientists wage a heated battle over who can name the most species. Spy tactics are employed, quarries are dynamited, and whole skeletons are stolen.     (Wednesday, January 24th)

Lecture 3: Claw of the Renaissance: In the badlands of Montana, a new kind of predatory dinosaur is discovered. This animal defies conventional expectations and the classic “good reptile” model. A revolution in dinosaur science erupts.       (Wednesday, January 31st)

Lecture 4: Revenge of the Splitters: Just how many species of dinosaurs were there? Paleontologists used to think roughly 10% of all dinosaurs had been discovered. Now, as more and more species are found, many researchers suspect we haven’t even discovered 1% and that many of the species we thought we knew are actually multiple species in disguise.

                                                                                    (Wednesday, February 7th)

Lecture series: $100 or $25 per lecture (four lectures in series)