though he had nothing better to do than annoy Clive. However, Clive was convinced
The Birds
would silence Helland. Clive knew the Dane nearly always relied on the evolution of the
manus
, the bird’s hand, to illustrate the relationship between birds and dinosaurs, and neither Helland nor Clive’s other opponents had given much thought to the evolution of the feather. Consequently, Clive had decided the feather would be his trump card. He had studied the evolution of the feather for years. From now on, no one would be able to argue that feathers on present-day birds had anything to do with the feather-like structures found on dinosaurs.
When the book was published, it went straight to the bestseller lists in Canada and the United States. Every dinosaur-mad amateur biologist on the planet bought a copy. However, Clive’s fellow scientists ignored it. It received only a few peer reviews in the more serious journals, and, on each occasion, in a rather dismissive tone, as though it was a curiosity to fill column inches rather than an important scientific work. Only
Scientific Today
allocated it a half-decent amount of space, but even so Clive was dissatisfied. He tried to call Jack to find out why his book had received such minimal coverage and been bounced to page 22, but Jack was unavailable.
Clive volunteered to speak at every upcoming symposium and carefully rewrote every chapter of
The Birds
as individual papers that he submitted simultaneously to scientific journals all over the world. He thought about his father. Had his father still been alive, he would have been proud. The reactions came just under a month later. Clive was prepared. He had already drafted his counter arguments because he knew exactly where his opponents would attack: the crescent-shaped
carpus
, the reduction of fingers, the ascending process of the
talus
bone, and the alleged feathers.
Clive devoured the new journals, convinced that his opponents would go straight for the anatomical discussion. However, apart from two responses written by minor scientists, none of his opponents criticized Clive’s anatomical arguments; instead they focused solely on poor editorial control whose
lethargy had allowed Clive Freeman’s original contribution to be published, thus causing a deeply regrettable undermining of the general credibility of the journals. The nature of the relationship between birds and dinosaurs isn’t a subject worthy of a serious medium, because there is nothing to discuss. Birds are present-day dinosaurs. The end.
In thirty-seven different publications.
Clive was consumed by a boiling rage. They were accusing him of incompetence. They were accusing him, Clive Freeman, a world-famous paleobiologist and a professor at the University of British Columbia, of scientific incompetence.
The most arrogant response came, not surprisingly, from Lars Helland who, on this occasion, listed an unknown, Erik Tybjerg, as his coauthor. This undoubtedly meant that Helland had told one of his PhD students to write his contribution. But the worst was yet to come.
The ultimate insult was that Helland’s reaction appeared in
Scientific Today
.
Clive called Jack immediately to request a meeting.
When Clive saw Jack three days later, he was suffering from an upset stomach. They had arranged to meet at a bar across the street from the office of
Scientific Today,
and Jack was already there when Clive arrived. He was wearing dark trousers and a thin T-shirt, and a newspaper rested on his casually arranged legs. Clive’s stomach lurched when Jack looked up, and he stared at Jack’s lips. Clive slammed the journal on the table.
“What the hell is this?” he demanded.
“Clive, there are five other people on the editorial committee besides me,” Jack said quietly.
Clive turned on his heel and left.
In the autumn of 2001 Clive was a guest speaker in Chicago. Normally, he kept strictly to material from
The Birds
, but the American audience was remarkably
The Birds
would silence Helland. Clive knew the Dane nearly always relied on the evolution of the
manus
, the bird’s hand, to illustrate the relationship between birds and dinosaurs, and neither Helland nor Clive’s other opponents had given much thought to the evolution of the feather. Consequently, Clive had decided the feather would be his trump card. He had studied the evolution of the feather for years. From now on, no one would be able to argue that feathers on present-day birds had anything to do with the feather-like structures found on dinosaurs.
When the book was published, it went straight to the bestseller lists in Canada and the United States. Every dinosaur-mad amateur biologist on the planet bought a copy. However, Clive’s fellow scientists ignored it. It received only a few peer reviews in the more serious journals, and, on each occasion, in a rather dismissive tone, as though it was a curiosity to fill column inches rather than an important scientific work. Only
Scientific Today
allocated it a half-decent amount of space, but even so Clive was dissatisfied. He tried to call Jack to find out why his book had received such minimal coverage and been bounced to page 22, but Jack was unavailable.
Clive volunteered to speak at every upcoming symposium and carefully rewrote every chapter of
The Birds
as individual papers that he submitted simultaneously to scientific journals all over the world. He thought about his father. Had his father still been alive, he would have been proud. The reactions came just under a month later. Clive was prepared. He had already drafted his counter arguments because he knew exactly where his opponents would attack: the crescent-shaped
carpus
, the reduction of fingers, the ascending process of the
talus
bone, and the alleged feathers.
Clive devoured the new journals, convinced that his opponents would go straight for the anatomical discussion. However, apart from two responses written by minor scientists, none of his opponents criticized Clive’s anatomical arguments; instead they focused solely on poor editorial control whose
lethargy had allowed Clive Freeman’s original contribution to be published, thus causing a deeply regrettable undermining of the general credibility of the journals. The nature of the relationship between birds and dinosaurs isn’t a subject worthy of a serious medium, because there is nothing to discuss. Birds are present-day dinosaurs. The end.
In thirty-seven different publications.
Clive was consumed by a boiling rage. They were accusing him of incompetence. They were accusing him, Clive Freeman, a world-famous paleobiologist and a professor at the University of British Columbia, of scientific incompetence.
The most arrogant response came, not surprisingly, from Lars Helland who, on this occasion, listed an unknown, Erik Tybjerg, as his coauthor. This undoubtedly meant that Helland had told one of his PhD students to write his contribution. But the worst was yet to come.
The ultimate insult was that Helland’s reaction appeared in
Scientific Today
.
Clive called Jack immediately to request a meeting.
When Clive saw Jack three days later, he was suffering from an upset stomach. They had arranged to meet at a bar across the street from the office of
Scientific Today,
and Jack was already there when Clive arrived. He was wearing dark trousers and a thin T-shirt, and a newspaper rested on his casually arranged legs. Clive’s stomach lurched when Jack looked up, and he stared at Jack’s lips. Clive slammed the journal on the table.
“What the hell is this?” he demanded.
“Clive, there are five other people on the editorial committee besides me,” Jack said quietly.
Clive turned on his heel and left.
In the autumn of 2001 Clive was a guest speaker in Chicago. Normally, he kept strictly to material from
The Birds
, but the American audience was remarkably
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