From their discovery in the 19th century to the dawn of the Nuclear Age, dinosaurs were seen in popular culture as ambassadors of the geological past and as icons of the "life through time" narrative of evolution. They took on a more foreboding character during the Cold War, serving as a warning to mankind with the advent of the hydrogen bomb. As fears of human extinction escalated during the ecological movement of the 1970s, dinosaurs communicated their metaphorical message of extinction, urging us from our destructive path. Using an eclectic variety of examples, this book outlines the three-fold "evolution" of dinosaurs and other prehistoric monsters in pop culture, from their poorly understood beginnings to the 21st century.
Recenzijas
Highly readable prose.... Debus is a master at bringing together both the scientific and cultural aspects of dinosaurs, and this book will be warmly received by anyone with an enduring fascination with the prehistoric terrible lizards. Highly recommendedChoice; [ Debus] prose exhibits welcome wit and an abiding fondness for all representations of dinosaurs in literature and films, past and presentScary Monsters Magazine; Debus has built a reputation as a superbly informed critical thinker, and this new book showcases his abilities admirablyG-Fan; A lot to read and enjoyPrehistoric Times; A lot of detail and information Not only will you come away with insight into dinosaurs in pop culture, but also a bit of world history as wellMad Scientist; If you are interested in the history of dinosaurs in popular culture, Debus is an author you simply cannot ignore...Debus does a huge service to those who work in the history of scienceH-Net Reviews.
| Foreword |
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1 | (2) |
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| Introduction: Pop-Cultural Evolution of the Prehistoric Dino-Monster: Meaning and Metaphor |
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3 | (8) |
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Part I Perpetuating the Life Through Geological Time Paradigm |
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11 | (74) |
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One Sir Humphry Davy's Volcanic Considerations of Life Through Geological Time |
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13 | (12) |
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Two Popularizing the Life-Through-Time "Paleo-Novel" |
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25 | (12) |
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Three Henry Robert Knipe: A Forgotten Paleo-Popularizer |
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37 | (9) |
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Four Dinosaur Extinctions I: When a "dinosaur book" Isn't: Henry Fairfield Osborn's Origin and Evolution of Life (1917) |
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46 | (18) |
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Five Filmic Illustrations of Life Through Geological Time |
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64 | (9) |
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Six Lovecraft's Paleontological Time Travels |
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73 | (12) |
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Part II Doomsday Dinosaurs |
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85 | (114) |
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Seven Dinosaur Extinctions II: Volcanoes Presage Environmental Apocalypse |
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88 | (11) |
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Eight Sizing up Radiation's Unnatural Cold War Dangers |
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99 | (15) |
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Nine Nuclear Dragon: Godzilla and the Cold War---1954 |
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114 | (13) |
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Ten Godzilla's Dinosaurian Origins |
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127 | (14) |
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Eleven Oxygen Destroyers: When Oceans Die |
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141 | (7) |
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Twelve "After and Before": Gorgo's Alternate Adventures |
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148 | (24) |
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Thirteen Prehistoric Life Spawns an Environmental Movement |
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172 | (15) |
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Fourteen Beyond the Smog Monster: Godzilla in the Anthropocene |
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187 | (12) |
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Part III Man and Dinosaur as One |
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199 | (66) |
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Fifteen Decade of the Dinosaur |
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201 | (12) |
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Sixteen Dinosaur Extinctions III: Warning from Space! Science Fiction Becomes Scientific |
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213 | (16) |
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Seventeen Shadow of Our Past: Evolution of the Beast |
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229 | (15) |
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Eighteen That First Intelligence |
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244 | (11) |
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Nineteen When Dinosauroids Speak! |
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255 | (10) |
| Epilogue |
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265 | (12) |
| Chapter Notes |
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277 | (34) |
| Bibliography |
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311 | (2) |
| Index |
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313 | |
Allen A. Debus, a retired environmental chemist, has long been infatuated with dinosaurs, paleontology, science fiction, Godzilla and King Kong. He has written several books addressing prehistoric creaturesboth real and fictionalin popular culture, and attends Chicagolands Wizard World and G-Fest. He is a member of the G-Fan Hall of Fame and lives in Hanover Park, Illinois.
