Go to A Schematic History of Dinosaur Images adapted from page 101 of the book, with dozens of links to relevant websites. Read Mitchell's Seven Theses on the Dinosaur a lecture handout on the main themes of The Last Dinosaur Book . An interview with W.J.T. Mitchell , reprinted from the University of Chicago Chronicle . Although our history of the dinosaur is over, it isn't the end of the story. Throughout the history of the dinosaur image there has been one figure whose role we have so far taken for granted.
Children are probably the principal audience for dinosaur images.
Every day of the school year, busloads of children are herded into natural history museums in major cities, and in elementary schools throughout the United States, paleontology has become a semi-official fixture of the curriculum. With the reinforcement of the toy industry, children's television shows, advertising, and roadside attractions, the dinosaur may be the most publicized animal in children's lives. The myth that all children love dinosaurs is contradicted by this nineteenth-century scene of a visit to the monsters at the Crystal Palace. There is a widespread assumption that all children love dinosaurs, that they find them automatically fascinating, interesting, marvelous, wonderful, and irresistible. I do not have any sociological studies or statistics to prove that this assumption is wrong, nor do I need any.