Re: dinosaurs and the media

[George D Stanley <fossil@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Mr. Zimmer,

Regarding the NAPC, got your message requesting info about dinosaurs in the 
public eye and the role of dinosaurs to the public and to scientists. I 
think your message should start some discussions. 

I am an invertebrate paleontologist very active in field-oriented research
at a medium size university. I come in contact with a lot of the public
through tours of our paleontology collections and the "History of Life" 
course I teach each year. I will be involved in the NAPC, chairing a
session, giving a lecture, and other activities. On the program I notice a
lot of exciting, cutting-edge subjects of which the public 
most likely will never be aware. 

In my opinion the dinosaur "big monster" thing is blown way out of
proportion! It gets far more coverage by the public and the news media
than it really deserves. I think such disproportionate coverage has
something to do with the current scientific illiteracy afflicting a major
proportion of the public in the U.S. and elsewhere. 

The ordinary folk seem to relate to dinosaurs only on the gut ("gosh,
gee-whiz") level. They appear unable or unwilling to approach paleontology
on broader, more intellectually challenging levels which after all are
also based upon discoveries in Earth's rock record. These include
questions as to just what controls life's diversity, its origin and the
mind-blowing implications, based upon study of a whole variety of fossils,
of life's colorful evolutionary history. It was reasonable and therefore
fitting that invertebrate marine creatures of the Burgess, rather than the
usual dinosaurs, recently graced the cover of TIME magazine. In this
context, is the discovery of a conodont animal any more significant than a
meat-eating dinosaur?  But does the public really understand conodonts?
Why not? 

This summer I am leading my students from the University of Montana to the
Canadian Rockies to see the Burgess Shale locality. The importance of
these humble Cambrian invertebrates, at the very root of the great tree of
life, so overshadows the dinosaurs (one small twig-like branch among the
reptiles) as to make them almost irrelevant. But try to communicate this to
the public! 

I think that the problem is one for science writers, educators,
researchers and responsible journalists who relate to the public. Put
things in their perspective! Get on the stick and help educate the public!
Dinosaurs are interesting and certainly deserve study but what about the
other issues. 

Regards,



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George D. Stanley, Jr.          |||||||                     |
Department of Geology          / ^   ^ \        ,-----,     |
University of Montana          | @   @ |       / \ | / \    |
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FAX: 406-243-4028               \_____/         `-----'     |
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E-mail: fossil@selway.umt.edu                               |
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