IN THE ATTIC OF SCIENCE (2/6)- How old is humanity? From Adam and Eve, the Church answered for a long time before the idea of the evolution of species emerged. And this is how scientists, faced with dinosaur fossils, were able to theorize the giants…
What reaction would you have when you discovered a huge bone, without having ever heard of the laws of evolution and natural selection? From antiquity, these archaeological discoveries have fueled myths and legends, says the American science historian Adrienne Mayor in an untranslated work published in 2000, The First Fossil Hunter. Fossils of protoceratops, frilled dinosaurs discovered in the Gobi desert, thus gave birth to griffins, mythical beasts half eagles, half lion.
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Men then consider that the living is immutable. This certainty, which will last until the nineteenthe century and the work of Darwin, reached its climax from the 14the century when the fashion for antique dealers spread across Europe. These bones too large to belong to a known animal are necessarily those of giants who hide in forests or mountains, we believe. “The oversized bones created anxiety among the populationsanalyse…
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