Re: Token Paleontologists on TV?

[MKIRKALDY@aol.com]

There is a funny thread on VertPaleo about portrayals of paleontologists in 
various venues.  I thought the following was hilarious and have reprinted it 
with permission from Nate Smith.

Mary
______

< Who would have thought that we would reach the point of preferring the 
characterization of paleontologists in various 1950 scifi movies? 
 
Daniel J. Chure, Ph.D. >
____

There is a scene in the old sci-fi movie, "Monster on Campus" where the 
paleontologist is examining a dog that has become an "evolutionary throw-back" 
when the departmental secretary comes in: 

Paleontologist: "Do you know anything about paleontology, Mary?" 

Mary: "I know handsome men study it." 

While I can't endorse that characterization of paleontologists, I did tell some 
of my students about this scene the other day. One reply I got: "I bet paleo 
dorks like you love that line". As a side note, there is also a scene in the 
movie where the camera pans along a row of skulls representing the "Rise of 
Modern Man". One of the skulls is 
Piltdown Man. I am a dork,

Nate Smith 
Graduate Student 
Department of Geoscience 
University of Iowa 
121 Trowbridge Hall 
Iowa City, IA 52242 
319-335-1798 
nathan-smith-1@uiowa.edu