Complex Numbers

Dinostory

Long-ish article today, but I don't have a lot of commentary on it.

How Tycoons Created the Dinosaur  
The story of dinosaurs is also the story of capitalism.

Fun fact I just learned recently: "Tycoon" is a word of Japanese origin. I'm sure that was common knowledge, but I didn't know it until a week or so ago.

Anyway, the article.

When standing before one of these towering creatures, such as the T. rex skeleton named Sue in Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, it is surprisingly difficult to distinguish which features are ancient and which ones are modern, where prehistory ends and imagination begins.

It is impossible for readers of Jim Butcher to do so without shouting "Polka will never die!"

If you don't know what I'm talking about, read the Dresden Files.

The first dinosaur discoveries consisted of only a few bones and a handful of teeth. Before long, more complete skeletons began to be found, but the individual pieces were usually scattered about in a jumbled mess of material.

My hypothesis, which is mine, is that dragons are dinosaurs. What I mean by that is, long ago, people stumbled upon dinosaur bones and, having no concept of deep time or evolution, concluded that they must be from some enormous living beast. Hence, dragons.

The story scientists composed from similar bones may be more factual, but dragons are a part of the collective consciousness too.

And that, I think, is part of what the article is about. I'm not going to quote much more from it, and I don't fully agree with it, but I found it to be a fascinating way to look at science, discovery, capitalism, and the stories we tell ourselves.