The Rhinoceros and the Megatherium

The Rhinoceros and the Megatherium PDF Author: Juan Pimentel
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674737129
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
One animal left India in 1515, caged in the hold of a Portuguese ship, and sailed around Africa to Lisbon—the first of its species to see Europe for more than a thousand years. The other crossed the Atlantic from South America to Madrid in 1789, its huge fossilized bones packed in crates, its species unknown. How did Europeans three centuries apart respond to these two mysterious beasts—a rhinoceros, known only from ancient texts, and a nameless monster? As Juan Pimentel explains, the reactions reflect deep intellectual changes but also the enduring power of image and imagination to shape our understanding of the natural world. We know the rhinoceros today as “Dürer’s Rhinoceros,” after the German artist’s iconic woodcut. His portrait was inaccurate—Dürer never saw the beast and relied on conjecture, aided by a sketch from Lisbon. But the influence of his extraordinary work reflected a steady move away from ancient authority to the dissemination in print of new ideas and images. By the time the megatherium arrived in Spain, that movement had transformed science. When published drawings found their way to Paris, the great zoologist Georges Cuvier correctly deduced that the massive bones must have belonged to an extinct giant sloth. It was a pivotal moment in the discovery of the prehistoric world. The Rhinoceros and the Megatherium offers a penetrating account of two remarkable episodes in the cultural history of science and is itself a vivid example of the scientific imagination at work.

The Rhinoceros and the Megatherium

The Rhinoceros and the Megatherium PDF Author: Juan Pimentel
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674737129
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
One animal left India in 1515, caged in the hold of a Portuguese ship, and sailed around Africa to Lisbon—the first of its species to see Europe for more than a thousand years. The other crossed the Atlantic from South America to Madrid in 1789, its huge fossilized bones packed in crates, its species unknown. How did Europeans three centuries apart respond to these two mysterious beasts—a rhinoceros, known only from ancient texts, and a nameless monster? As Juan Pimentel explains, the reactions reflect deep intellectual changes but also the enduring power of image and imagination to shape our understanding of the natural world. We know the rhinoceros today as “Dürer’s Rhinoceros,” after the German artist’s iconic woodcut. His portrait was inaccurate—Dürer never saw the beast and relied on conjecture, aided by a sketch from Lisbon. But the influence of his extraordinary work reflected a steady move away from ancient authority to the dissemination in print of new ideas and images. By the time the megatherium arrived in Spain, that movement had transformed science. When published drawings found their way to Paris, the great zoologist Georges Cuvier correctly deduced that the massive bones must have belonged to an extinct giant sloth. It was a pivotal moment in the discovery of the prehistoric world. The Rhinoceros and the Megatherium offers a penetrating account of two remarkable episodes in the cultural history of science and is itself a vivid example of the scientific imagination at work.

The Rhinoceros and the Megatherium

The Rhinoceros and the Megatherium PDF Author: Juan Pimentel
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674974425
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
One animal left India in 1515, caged in the hold of a Portuguese ship, and sailed around Africa to Lisbon—the first of its species to see Europe for more than a thousand years. The other crossed the Atlantic from South America to Madrid in 1789, its huge fossilized bones packed in crates, its species unknown. How did Europeans three centuries apart respond to these two mysterious beasts—a rhinoceros, known only from ancient texts, and a nameless monster? As Juan Pimentel explains, the reactions reflect deep intellectual changes but also the enduring power of image and imagination to shape our understanding of the natural world. We know the rhinoceros today as “Dürer’s Rhinoceros,” after the German artist’s iconic woodcut. His portrait was inaccurate—Dürer never saw the beast and relied on conjecture, aided by a sketch from Lisbon. But the influence of his extraordinary work reflected a steady move away from ancient authority to the dissemination in print of new ideas and images. By the time the megatherium arrived in Spain, that movement had transformed science. When published drawings found their way to Paris, the great zoologist Georges Cuvier correctly deduced that the massive bones must have belonged to an extinct giant sloth. It was a pivotal moment in the discovery of the prehistoric world. The Rhinoceros and the Megatherium offers a penetrating account of two remarkable episodes in the cultural history of science and is itself a vivid example of the scientific imagination at work.

The Rhinoceros and the Megatherium

The Rhinoceros and the Megatherium PDF Author: Juan Pimentel
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780674974418
Category : Animals and history
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
How did Europeans three centuries apart respond to two mysterious beasts--a living rhinoceros previously known only from ancient texts and a nameless monster's massive bones? Juan Pimentel shows that their reactions reflect deep cultural changes but also the enduring power of image and imagination to shape our understanding of the natural world.

A New System of Geology, in which the Great Revolutions of the Earth and Animated Nature, are Reconciled at Once to Modern Science and Sacred History

A New System of Geology, in which the Great Revolutions of the Earth and Animated Nature, are Reconciled at Once to Modern Science and Sacred History PDF Author: Andrew Ure
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Bible and geology
Languages : en
Pages : 704

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Book Description


Jake's Bones

Jake's Bones PDF Author: Jake McGowan-Lowe
Publisher: Ticktock Books, Limited
ISBN: 9781848988521
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Jake McGowan-Lowe is a boy with a very unusual hobby. Since the age of 7, he has been photographing and blogging about his incredible finds and now has a worldwide following, including 100,000 visitors from the US and Canada. Follow Jake as he explores the animal world through this new 64-page book. He takes you on a world wide journey of his own collection, and introduces you to other amazing animals from the four corners of the globe. Find out what a cow's tooth, a rabbit's rib and a duck's quack look like and much, much more besides.

Description of the Skeleton of an Extinct Gigantic Sloth, Mylodon Robustus, with Observations on the Megatherioid Quadrupeds in General

Description of the Skeleton of an Extinct Gigantic Sloth, Mylodon Robustus, with Observations on the Megatherioid Quadrupeds in General PDF Author: Richard Owen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Description of the Skeleton of an Extinct Gigantic Sloth, Mylodon Robustus, Owen ...

Description of the Skeleton of an Extinct Gigantic Sloth, Mylodon Robustus, Owen ... PDF Author: Richard Owen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Description of the Skeleton of an Extinct Gigantic Sloth

Description of the Skeleton of an Extinct Gigantic Sloth PDF Author: Richard Owen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Laziness
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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The Geographical and Geological Distribution of Animals

The Geographical and Geological Distribution of Animals PDF Author: Angelo Heilprin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Paleontology
Languages : en
Pages : 468

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Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 1110

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