n new year’s eve 1853 a famous dinner for twenty…one prominentscientists was held inside the unfinished iguanodon。 gideon mantell； the man who had foundand identified the iguanodon； was not among them。 the person at the head of the table wasthe greatest star of the young science of paleontology。 his name was richard owen and bythis time he had already devoted several productive years to making gideon mantell’s lifehell。
owen had grown up in lancaster； in the north of england； where he had trained as a doctor。
he was a born anatomist and so devoted to his studies that he sometimes illicitly borrowedlimbs； organs； and other parts from cadavers and took them home for leisurely dissection。
once while carrying a sack containing the head of a black african sailor that he had just removed； owen slipped on a wet cobble and watched in horror as the head bounced awayfrom him down the lane and through the open doorway of a cottage； where it came to rest inthe front parlor。 what the occupants had to say upon finding an unattached head rolling to ahalt at their feet can only be imagined。 one assumes that they had not formed any terriblyadvanced conclusions when； an instant later； a fraught…looking young man rushed in；wordlessly retrieved the head； and rushed out again。
in 1825； aged just twenty…one； owen moved to london and soon after was engaged by theroyal college of surgeons to help organize their extensive； but disordered； collections ofmedical and anatomical specimens。 most of these had been left to the institution by johnhunter； a distinguished surgeon and tireless collector of medical curiosities； but had neverbeen catalogued or organized； largely because the paperwork explaining the significance ofeach had gone missing soon after hunter’s death。
owen swiftly distinguished himself with his powers of organization and deduction。 at thesame time he showed himself to be a peerless anatomist with instincts for reconstructionalmost on a par with the great cuvier in paris。 he bee such an expert on the anatomy ofanimals that he was granted first refusal on any animal that died at the london zoologicalgardens； and these he would invariably have delivered to his house for examination。 once hiswife returned home to find a freshly deceased rhinoceros filling the front hallway。 he quicklybecame a leading expert on all kinds of animals living and extinct—from platypuses；echidnas； and other newly discovered marsupials to the hapless dodo and the extinct giantbirds called moas that had roamed new zealand until eaten out of existence by the maoris。 hewas the first to describe the archaeopteryx after its discovery in bavaria in 1861 and the firstto write a formal epitaph for the dodo。 altogether he produced some six hundred anatomicalpapers； a prodigious output。
but it was for his work with dinosaurs that owen is remembered。 he coined the termdinosauria in 1841。 it means “terrible lizard” and was a curiously inapt name。 dinosaurs； aswe now know； weren’t all terrible—some were no bigger than rabbits and probably extremelyretiring—and the one thing they most emphatically were not was lizards； which are actually ofa much older （by thirty million years） lineage。 owen was well aware that the creatures werereptilian and had at his disposal a perfectly good greek word； herpeton； but for some reasonchose not to use it。 another； more excusable error （given the paucity of specimens at the time）was that dinosaurs constitute not one but two orders of reptiles： the bird…hipped ornithischiansand the lizard…hipped saurischians。
owen was not an attractive person； in appearance or in temperament。 a photograph fromhis late middle years shows him as gaunt and sinister； like the villain in a victorianmelodrama； with long； lank hair and bulging eyes—a face to frighten babies。 in manner hewas cold and imperious； and he was without scruple in the furtherance of his ambitions。 hewas the only person charles darwin was ever known to hate。 even owen’s son （who soonafter killed himself） referred to his father’s “lamentable coldness of heart。”
his undoubted gifts as an anatomist allowed him to get away with the most barefaceddishonesties。 in 1857； the naturalist t。 h。 huxley was leafing through a new edition ofchurchill’s medical directory when he noticed that owen was listed as professor ofparative anatomy and physiology at the government school of mines； which rathersurprised huxley as that was the position he held。 upon inquiring how churchill’s had madesuch an elemental error； he was told that the information had been provided to them by dr。
owen himself。 a fellow naturalist named hugh falconer； meanwhile； caught owen taking credit for one of his discoveries。 others accused him of borrowing specimens； then denyinghe had done so。 owen even fell into a bitter dispute with the queen’s dentist over the creditfor a theory concerning the physiology of teeth。
he did not hesitate to persecute those whom he disliked。 early in his career owen used hisinfluence at the zoological society to blackball a young man named robert grant whose onlycrime was to have shown promise as a fellow anatomist。 grant was astonished to discover thathe was suddenly denied access to the anatomical specimens he needed to conduct hisresearch。 unable to pursue his work； he sank into an understandably dispirited obscurity。
but no one suffered more from owen’s unkindly attentions than the hapless andincreasingly tragic gideon mantell。 after losing his wife； his children； his medical practice；and most of his fossil collection； mantell moved to london。 there in 1841—the fateful yearin which owen would achieve his greatest glory for naming and identifying the dinosaurs—mantell was involved in a terrible accident。 while crossing clapham mon in a carriage；he somehow fell from his seat； grew entangled in the reins； and was dragged at a gallop overrough ground by the panicked horses。 the accident left him bent； crippled； and in chronicpain； with a spine damaged beyond repair。
capitalizing on mantell’s enfeebled state； owen set about systematically expungingmantell’s contributions from the record； renaming species that mantell had named yearsbefore and claiming credit for their discovery for himself。 mantell continued to try to dooriginal research but owen used his influence at the royal society to ensure that most of hispapers were rejected。 in 1852； unable to bear any more pain or persecution； mantell took hisown life。 his deformed spine was removed and sent to the royal college of surgeonswhere—and now here’s an irony for you—it was placed in the care of richard owen； directorof the college’s hunterian museum。
but the insults had not quite finished。 soon after mantell’s death an arrestingly uncharitableobituary appeared in the literary gazette。 in it mantell was characterized as a mediocreanatomist whose modest contributions to paleontology were limited by a “want of exactknowledge。” the obituary even removed the discovery of the iguanodon from him andcredited it instead to cuvier and owen； among others。 though the piece carried no byline； thestyle was owen’s and no one in the world of the natural sciences doubted the authorship。
by this stage； however； owen’s transgressions were beginning to catch up with him。 hisundoing began when a mittee of the royal society—a mittee of which he happenedto be chairman—decided to award him its highest honor； the royal medal； for a paper he hadwritten on an extinct mollusc called the belemnite。 “however；” as deborah cadbury notes inher excellent history of the period； terrible lizard； “this piece of work was not quite asoriginal as it appeared。” the belemnite； it turned out； had been discovered four years earlierby an amateur naturalist named chaning pearce； and the discovery had been fully reported ata meeting of the geological society。 owen had been at that meeting； but failed to mentionthis when he presented a report of his own to the royal society—in which； not incidentally；he rechristened the creature belemnites owenii in his own honor。 although owen was allowedto keep the royal medal； the episode left a permanent tarnish on his reputation； even amonghis few remaining supporters。
eventually huxley managed to do to owen what owen had done to so many others： he hadhim voted off the councils of the zoological and royal societies。 as a final insult huxleybecame the new hunterian professor at the royal college of surgeons。
owen would never again do important research； but the latter half of his career was devotedto one unexceptionable pursuit for which we can all be grateful。 in 1856 he became head ofthe natural history section of the british museum； in which capacity he became the drivingforce behind the creation of london’s natural history museum。 the grand and belovedgothic heap in south kensington； opened in 1880； is almost entirely a testament to his vision。
before owen； museums were designed primarily for the use and edification of the elite； andeven then it was difficult to gain access。 in the early days of the british museum； prospectivevisitors had to make a written application and undergo a brief interview to determine if theywere fit to be admitted at all。 they then had to return a second