Professor Caroline Winterer

And actually, all of our greenhouses of the present era are ultimately descended from the first greenhouses of the 19th century, which were meant to recreate the tropical foliage of the Carboniferous. They had a love affair with the Carboniferous because this was going to save us from the lot of humanity for the last however many thousand years, which was to be dark, cold, tired.

Everyone was tired all the time because they had to work, but now they had machines, machines that were powered by electricity. the ancient fossil forest that had swaddled the infant earth. So that was the second one. Then came, okay, this comes the fun part, right, is the dinosaurs.

Everyone was tired all the time because they had to work, but now they had machines, machines that were powered by electricity. the ancient fossil forest that had swaddled the infant earth. So that was the second one. Then came, okay, this comes the fun part, right, is the dinosaurs.

Everyone was tired all the time because they had to work, but now they had machines, machines that were powered by electricity. the ancient fossil forest that had swaddled the infant earth. So that was the second one. Then came, okay, this comes the fun part, right, is the dinosaurs.

So they begin to scrape away again at the earth and they find on top these enormous skeletons, you know, the size of a 737 of giant sea creatures, mosasaurs. And this was quite extraordinary. One of the reasons that they found them was because they were in search of fertile soils to re-fertilize the land that had been exhausted by 200 years of tobacco cultivation.

So they begin to scrape away again at the earth and they find on top these enormous skeletons, you know, the size of a 737 of giant sea creatures, mosasaurs. And this was quite extraordinary. One of the reasons that they found them was because they were in search of fertile soils to re-fertilize the land that had been exhausted by 200 years of tobacco cultivation.

So they begin to scrape away again at the earth and they find on top these enormous skeletons, you know, the size of a 737 of giant sea creatures, mosasaurs. And this was quite extraordinary. One of the reasons that they found them was because they were in search of fertile soils to re-fertilize the land that had been exhausted by 200 years of tobacco cultivation.

So the first Europeans to come to North America had arrived in the 1600s. They immediately started making tobacco plantations to send tobacco to places like England, for example, where all of Europe became addicted to smoking. But after 200 years of this, in the early 1800s, all of the soils in the American South had been exhausted.

So the first Europeans to come to North America had arrived in the 1600s. They immediately started making tobacco plantations to send tobacco to places like England, for example, where all of Europe became addicted to smoking. But after 200 years of this, in the early 1800s, all of the soils in the American South had been exhausted.

So the first Europeans to come to North America had arrived in the 1600s. They immediately started making tobacco plantations to send tobacco to places like England, for example, where all of Europe became addicted to smoking. But after 200 years of this, in the early 1800s, all of the soils in the American South had been exhausted.

So the soils of the Cretaceous, which basically means chalky, were used to re-fertilize what became the cotton plantations of the slave South in the period 1800 to 1860. Our listeners may have heard of the term the Cotton Kingdom. This is the Cotton Kingdom essentially stretching from South Carolina to Mississippi.

So the soils of the Cretaceous, which basically means chalky, were used to re-fertilize what became the cotton plantations of the slave South in the period 1800 to 1860. Our listeners may have heard of the term the Cotton Kingdom. This is the Cotton Kingdom essentially stretching from South Carolina to Mississippi.

So the soils of the Cretaceous, which basically means chalky, were used to re-fertilize what became the cotton plantations of the slave South in the period 1800 to 1860. Our listeners may have heard of the term the Cotton Kingdom. This is the Cotton Kingdom essentially stretching from South Carolina to Mississippi.

and the Mississippi River itself, the giant artery of water whose sides, the canyon sides, clearly exposed these fertile soils that happened also to be full of gigantic dinosaur fossils, which they then excavated and brought back to the museums, first of the United States, places like Philadelphia, you can still see them.

and the Mississippi River itself, the giant artery of water whose sides, the canyon sides, clearly exposed these fertile soils that happened also to be full of gigantic dinosaur fossils, which they then excavated and brought back to the museums, first of the United States, places like Philadelphia, you can still see them.

and the Mississippi River itself, the giant artery of water whose sides, the canyon sides, clearly exposed these fertile soils that happened also to be full of gigantic dinosaur fossils, which they then excavated and brought back to the museums, first of the United States, places like Philadelphia, you can still see them.

Some of them have American names, the Hadrosaurus named after Haddonfield, New Jersey, but also they love to ship them to Europe to say, hey, you know, you guys think that we're inferior Americans, right? We had the chutzpah to seek independence from Mother Britain 50 years ago. We think, you know, we're so great. And in fact, we are so great because here,

Some of them have American names, the Hadrosaurus named after Haddonfield, New Jersey, but also they love to ship them to Europe to say, hey, you know, you guys think that we're inferior Americans, right? We had the chutzpah to seek independence from Mother Britain 50 years ago. We think, you know, we're so great. And in fact, we are so great because here,

Some of them have American names, the Hadrosaurus named after Haddonfield, New Jersey, but also they love to ship them to Europe to say, hey, you know, you guys think that we're inferior Americans, right? We had the chutzpah to seek independence from Mother Britain 50 years ago. We think, you know, we're so great. And in fact, we are so great because here,

Here on this ship is a giant fossil of a dinosaur that is bigger than your puny little English fossils.