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Edward Drinker Cope

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Scientist

The Resume

    (July 28, 1840-April 12, 1897)
    Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    Paleontologist and zoologist
    Discovered and named over 1,000 extinct vertebrate species

Why he might be annoying:

    He wrote that 'the inferior Negro should go back to Africa.'
    He suffered a nervous breakdown from overwork (1872).
    He prescribed himself morphine and belladonna for his illnesses.
    He had a long-running feud with fellow paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh, known as 'the Bone Wars.'
    The rush to beat Marsh to print sometimes resulted in sloppy work.
    In his most famous error, in reconstructing the pleisaur Elasmosaurus, he placed the skull at the end of the tail instead of the neck. He then tried to hide the mistake by buying up all copies of the journal his article appeared in.
    In a final challenge to Marsh, he donated his brain to science, hoping his would be larger than his rival's.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He published his first scientific paper at age 19.
    Zoologist Henry Fowler said he was 'always impressive with his great energy and activity.'
    'Copeia,' a leading journal of American hepetology and ichthyology (studies of reptiles and fishes, respectively), was named for him.
    His and Marsh's discoveries fueled a massive increase of public interest in dinosaurs.
    His personal collection of 13,000 fossils became the nucleus of the American Museum of Natural History's fossil hall.
    Marsh never did donate his brain, so Cope presumably won his last challenge by default.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 12.50% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 20 Votes: 55.00% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 141 Votes: 63.83% Annoying