Dr. Robert T. Bakker
Yesterday, Gabe and had the great privlege to meet Dr. Robert T. Bakker, Paleontologist. He is quite an interesting character. What I was most amazed by was how he could relate extremely well to children, some as young as 5, while still making the information interesting to the 'older' members of the audience.
I've since done a little research about him on the web. From what I found, his personal philosophies are pretty similar to mine. He seems pretty "Libertarian" when it comes to his politics. The thing I was most struck by was that he routinely argues that Spiritual Belief and Science don't need to be mutually exclusive. He has debated this point with parties from the ultra-Religious side and the Atheist side of the Creationism versus Evolution argument.
Other striking facts about him that he was one of the first academics to hypothesis that Dinosaurs are related to modern day birds and that many dinos probably had feathers. When he first came forward with these ideas he was scoffed at. His theories have since been supported by recent finds from the fossil beds of China.
He has written quite a few books, including several for children. We bought 2 of the children's books yesterday at the museum and I have ordered 1 other via ebay. I have also ordered his novel, titled Raptor Red and the nonfiction Dinosaur Heresies. When I've read them I will review them on this Blog.
Strangely enough, he is also the basis for one of the characters in Michael Crichton's The Lost World. It's been a while since a saw the movie and I'm ashamed to say I've haven't read the book, but according to others, 'Dr. Burke', the character in the movie, gets eaten by a T-Rex. After meeting Dr. Bakker, I feel confident in saying he probably found the scenario hilarious.
I urge anyone who reads my Blog to do some research about him. His theories and opinions are extremely interesting and you just might expand your own personal horizons.
I've since done a little research about him on the web. From what I found, his personal philosophies are pretty similar to mine. He seems pretty "Libertarian" when it comes to his politics. The thing I was most struck by was that he routinely argues that Spiritual Belief and Science don't need to be mutually exclusive. He has debated this point with parties from the ultra-Religious side and the Atheist side of the Creationism versus Evolution argument.
Other striking facts about him that he was one of the first academics to hypothesis that Dinosaurs are related to modern day birds and that many dinos probably had feathers. When he first came forward with these ideas he was scoffed at. His theories have since been supported by recent finds from the fossil beds of China.
He has written quite a few books, including several for children. We bought 2 of the children's books yesterday at the museum and I have ordered 1 other via ebay. I have also ordered his novel, titled Raptor Red and the nonfiction Dinosaur Heresies. When I've read them I will review them on this Blog.
Strangely enough, he is also the basis for one of the characters in Michael Crichton's The Lost World. It's been a while since a saw the movie and I'm ashamed to say I've haven't read the book, but according to others, 'Dr. Burke', the character in the movie, gets eaten by a T-Rex. After meeting Dr. Bakker, I feel confident in saying he probably found the scenario hilarious.
I urge anyone who reads my Blog to do some research about him. His theories and opinions are extremely interesting and you just might expand your own personal horizons.
posted by Candy at 4:13 PM
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