Thomas Jefferson was one of the first real scientists – he found some big claws. Turns out they were from a giant sloth. We have one here at OSU!
Peale – started the first natural history museum. Almost every picture of George Washington we have was a painting of his.
People didn’t really believe in extinction – why would God create an animal then let it die out? Really there were 5 big extinction times.
There’s a place in Utah where over 8000 bones have been found. I wonder how people know where the bones belong? How do we know for sure the bones are in the right place? How do we know what their fur/scales were like?
Cuvier – proved extinction. (How do you prove something doesn’t exist? Have we been able to prove mermaids don’t exist?)
Napoleon Bonaparte – discovered the Rosetta Stone, given to GB.
They gave the mastadon femur to Paris because there wasn’t really science going on in America.