Items related to Scenes from Deep Time: Early Pictorial Representations...

Scenes from Deep Time: Early Pictorial Representations of the Prehistoric World - Hardcover

Rudwick, Martin J. S.

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9780226731049: Scenes from Deep Time: Early Pictorial Representations of the Prehistoric World
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0226731049 ISBN 13: 9780226731049
Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 1992

Synopsis

How did the earth look in prehistoric times? Scientists and artists collaborated during the half-century prior to the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species to produce the first images of dinosaurs and the world they inhabited. Their interpretations, informed by recent fossil discoveries, were the first efforts to represent the prehistoric world based on sources other than the Bible. Martin J. S. Rudwick presents more than a hundred rare illustrations from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to explore the implications of reconstructing a past no one has ever seen.

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About the Author


Martin J. S. Rudwick is professor emeritus of history at the University of California, San Diego and affiliated scholar in the Department of the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge.

Reviews

The idea of "deep time" developed with the advance of geological knowledge in the Victorian age. Rudwick has studied paleontological illustrations from that period to trace changes in how scientists visualized the prehistoric world and attempted to illustrate the span of time. He finds that the dominant themes were the conception of fossils as remnants of the biblical flood, pressure from the scientific community to refrain from flights of fancy, and the lack of complete data as a basis for reconstructions. At the same time, popular illustrations showed fantastic prehistoric monsters that captured the public imagination. Rudwick's scholarly text is heavily illustrated with pictures and quotations from source material. Although some of the pictures are lively, the topic is esoteric and requires the reader to be familiar with the history of geological science. For academic libraries.
- Amy Brunvand, Fort Lewis Coll. Lib., Durango, Col.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Publication date
1992
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0226731049
ISBN 13 
9780226731049
Binding
Hardcover
Edition number
1
Number of pages
294
Rating
  • 4.25 out of 5 stars
    20 ratings by Goodreads