China's first naturalized basketball player Li Kai'er, who made a scoreless debut for Team China at the FIBA World Cup on Saturday night in Manila, posted the two lines, coupled with a Chinese national flag icon and heart emojis, on social media on Sunday morning.
Contributing only four rebounds and four assists, the 29-year-old, 2.06-meter-tall Minnesota Timberwolves forward, better known to National Basketball Association (NBA) fans as Kyle Anderson, missed all his nine shot attempts during the World Cup game against Serbia on Saturday. Team China swallowed a tough 105-63 loss with Li struggling to deliver a pace-setting performance.
Disappointed Chinese basketball fans rated Li's debut a meager 4.6 out of 10 points, one of the lowest of the team squad, with some even saying that his "assimilation" to the team should not mean playing at their level.
When asked to comment on Li's first game with Team China in the World Cup, Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) Hall of Famer Liu Yudong told media that even in the NBA, Li is not a main scorer.
"It would be difficult to rely on his individual performance to compete in the World Cup. Basketball fans should not overestimate the capability of him or the team."
However, it is still too early to feel deflated or to look down on Team China's recruitment of its first naturalized player since growing pains are inevitable for both the team and its new floor general Li as the young squad goes through a period of adaption and adjustment.
Admittedly, despite having a shining resumé and being active for nine years and counting in the NBA, Li has hit a "rookie wall" in the international game under the FIBA basketball rules, Su Qun, one of the best-known basketball commentators in China, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Li has not played against any European powerhouses as strong as Serbia throughout his decade-long career within the NBA. It is hard for his signature slow-motion game style to cut when facing Serbia's well-disciplined defence, Su said.
Outside failing to score, statistics showed that Li could be considered the worst performing individual in the China-Serbia faceoff - when he was on the court, China was losing 35 points more than when the team was without him.
It also marked the most embarrassing debut at an international basketball game for any naturalized player worldwide so far, which, according to Su, shows that Li has not fully adapted to playing with the rest of the squad and that China's tactics system built around him has not yet been established.
Naturalizing Li so he could play for Team China before the World Cup and Paris 2024 Olympic Games was a carefully considered decision and so there is good reason to believe that Li and Team China can deliver well-engineered games, Wei Qi, a basketball commentator with the Beijing Radio and Television Network, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Also, it would be unrealistic to expect that the young man from New York could instantly adapt himself to the European basketball style that China's new head coach Aleksandar Djordjevic, who is from Serbia, is known for, Su noted.
The only nine shot attempts showed that Li has a strong will to better coordinate with Djordjevic's team basketball play style, Wei said.
Chinese basketball commentators and fans still have high faith in Li, and there could be a strong rebound in the remaining two games in the World Cup group competitions, where Team China is set to take on South Sudan and Puerto Rico. As they won't be going up against powerful Serbia, that means victory is much closer in reach for the team.
Players with South Sudan who are mostly playing in the development league of the NBA or at that level are entirely different than those with Serbia. Although they also have great physicality, Li may find that kind of game more familiar and there is a great chance Li can deliver a great comeback individual show in the next game on Monday with South Sudan.
The bad performance China had battling Serbia could also be the result of a "strategic retreat" for the sake of better preparation for matchups with more evenly matched rivals, which is quite common in international tournament games, analysts said. Therefore, there is only more hope that China will bounce back with force in the next games.
China aspires to be the best-performing Asian team in order to win direct qualification for the Paris Olympics in 2024. All six Asian teams competing in the World Cup, including tournament hosts Japan and the Philippines, suffered losses in the first round.
With groups of people waving goodbye, China's naval hospital ship the Ark Peace sailed from Honiara Harbor on Saturday morning after it successfully concluded its weeklong visit and dispensing medical services to the Solomon Islands.
Similar to its arrival, the shores were filled with crowds bidding farewell, with their sentiments toward the hospital ship evidently profound. For them, the opportunity to receive medical treatment aboard the Ark Peace was a rare one.
The 10,000th patient to receive medical care during the Ark Peace's visit to the Solomon Islands, 8-year-old girl Alaina, and her family expressed their hopes that the hospital ship would return once again.
The hospital ship, on the "Mission Harmony 2023," embarked on a seven-day visit and medical service mission to the Solomon Islands from August 19 to 26. This marked the hospital ship's inaugural visit to the Solomon Islands and the first visit by a Chinese Navy vessel to the country.
Situated in the southwest Pacific, the Solomon Islands established formal diplomatic relations with China in September 2019. In July 2023, both sides officially established a comprehensive strategic partnership featuring mutual respect and common development for a new era.
As the only active ocean-going hospital ship in the Chinese Navy, the Ark Peace has sailed across three oceans and six continents, earning the affection of people from various countries.
Seeing is believing and during the Ark Peace's visit to the Solomon Islands, the Global Times witnessed the ship's appealing charm.
A chance in a lifetime
Since the Ark Peace's arrival, hundreds gathered at the Solomon Ports area as early as 9 am daily to wait for a chance to be seen by medical specialists onboard, according to the Solomon Star News, a local daily newspaper.
Some even arrived at the Ports as early as 6 am, as the floating hospital was viewed as "a chance in a lifetime for many" in the nation, the report said.
Captain Deng Qiang of the hospital ship told the Global Times that to shield patients from the sun and rain and improve the efficiency of medical treatment, the team set up tents and waiting and triage areas on the pier. After registration at the triage area, patients proceeded in an orderly fashion onto the ship for examination and medical treatment under the guidance of staff.
Xi Huijun, Director of Nursing aboard the hospital ship, held a walkie-talkie to monitor the number and flow of patients boarding the ship. "The original plan was to start work at 8:30 am, but to expedite patient diagnosis and treatment, we began pre-consultation and pre-registration work at 7.30 am," she explained.
After boarding, patients were required to first register, after which blood was drawn. Two large boards in this area displayed 45 badges representing the 45 countries and regions visited by the hospital ship. Another electronic screen displayed the ship's global voyages since its first departure from China's Zhoushan port in East China's Zhejiang Province in 2010, with routes spreading out from Zhoushan like vines from a tree.
Deng had visited 32 countries with the hospital ship over seven voyages. During its latest mission, the ship stopped in Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands. The final stop would be Timor-Leste.
Deng recalled the different experiences at each stop, and the local people's love for the Ark Peace remained consistent and growing. "In 2014, when the ship visited Vanuatu, an elderly local resident underwent cataract surgery in one eye. When the ship returned in 2018, the same patient underwent surgery in the other eye."
Local resident Malachi Hi Nai, who was waiting on board for cataract surgery, believed that Chinese doctors and technology were the most advanced, which was why he chose to have the surgery on the hospital ship.
Hi explained that the local people seeking treatment aboard the hospital ship were mainly dealing with chronic illnesses such as gastric problems, as well as ophthalmological and orthopedic conditions. "The weather in South Pacific Island countries is hot, and prolonged sun exposure can lead to eye diseases, so there are many patients seeking ophthalmological services. Additionally, there is a high demand for dental services among the locals," she said.
Political Commissar Ren Junwei of the hospital ship's Maritime Hospital said that demand for medical services among Solomon Islands residents was high. During the seven days of medical service provision, the ship and its medical crew treated 10,310 local patients and conducted 5,825 auxiliary examinations, setting a record for the highest single-station patient reception during the Mission Harmony 2023.
"To meet the local demand for medical services, we not only received patients on the main platform of the hospital ship, but also dispatched seven medical teams for on-site consultations, which is also the most in the countries we have visited this summer," Ren explained.
"We also sent a shipborne medical rescue helicopter to Tulagi Island for on-site consultations. Three expert medical teams went to national referral hospitals to hold joint consultations and conduct surgeries with local medical personnel, engaging in academic exchanges," he said.
Janeth Sau, 30, was among those whose lives were changed by the arrival of the floating hospital.
Sau suffered from pain in her left knee for nine years. When the Global Times saw her, she was lying on a bed in the orthopedics department aboard the hospital ship, ready to receive treatment. Her husband told the Global Times that they had gone to local hospitals many times, but the same medication was always prescribed to no effect. They saw the news of the ships planned arrival to the Solomon Islands in the local media and arrived at the port early to queue up.
Regarding Sau's condition, Tong Wenwen, an orthopedic doctor aboard the hospital ship, told the Global Times that the initial diagnosis was knee joint effusion, commonly seen in knee synovitis. "It will be better to undergo multiple treatments for a complete recovery, but our treatment for the day can greatly alleviate her pain as well," Tong said.
Modern, hi-tech ark
The white-toned behemoth with a striking red cross painted on its side made the Ark Peace a beautiful sight in Honiara Port.
Stepping onto the deck of hospital ship, one will be greeted by a bustling scene from departments of internal medicine, surgery, ophthalmology, to dentistry.
Each department had numerous patients awaiting treatment. If it were not for the occasional sway of the ship and the visible medical equipment, one could have easily forgotten that this is a mobile hospital ship.
The hospital ship exudes a sense of modernity and technology, which is equipped with eight operating rooms, 266 beds, and more than 2,600 pieces of equipment, including magnetically-controlled capsule endoscopes, CT scanners, and X-ray machines. There are more than ten departments, such as the trauma classification area, the pre-op preparation room, and an ICU ward, allowing for over 40 different types of examinations, treatments, and surgeries, including general surgery, orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology, and otolaryngology.
While in the ICU ward, the Global Times reporters encountered Liu Yaoyang, an ICU doctor aboard the hospital ship. On August 20, there were a total of nine admitted patients, including those who had already undergone surgery and were under observation, as well as those awaiting surgery.
One such patient under Liu's care, Jamie, had undergone cataract surgery in his right eye. He had previously undergone the same surgery in his left eye in the Philippines, costing approximately 8,000 yuan ($1,097). This time, Wu Jinhui, an ophthalmologist aboard the hospital ship, performed the cataract surgery in his right eye.
According to Wu, Jamie's left eye now has a visual acuity of 0.8, and after the surgery, his right eye's visual acuity would recover to 1.0, which was a pleasant surprise to the patient.
Sun Chang, a gastroenterologist aboard the hospital ship, performed seven endoscopic examinations in the outpatient department on August 20. The magnetically-controlled capsule endoscope used in the examinations is a high-tech product independently developed by China, which has been used in 25 countries, including the US and Canada.
Sun explained that its core technology involves precise magnetic control and artificial intelligence.
The patient only needs to swallow a small capsule with water. A comprehensive gastroscopy examination can be completed in about 20 minutes, Sun said. "A strict evaluation needs to be conducted on patients who are qualified for this examination, to ensure that the magnetically controlled capsule endoscopy procedure can safely be performed on them."
Chinese medicine fever
Aboard the hospital ship, there are not only advanced modern facilities but also unique traditional Chinese medicine clinics offering services like cupping and acupuncture, which are highly popular among patients and have sparked a "Chinese medicine fever" in the local area.
On August 22, the Chinese medicine department treated 97 local patients, marking the highest daily outpatient volume since the implementation of the "Mission Harmony 2023."
Atop the Chinese medicine consultation room's seven beds, some patients were seen with "cups" on their backs, some had needles inserted in various acupuncture points on their legs, while other received moxibustion treatment on their feet. A local middle-aged woman told the Global Times that she came to the hospital ship for treatment because she heard that Chinese medicine is famous and effective for foot pain.
"I feel very good. Chinese doctors are very good!" she said, expressing her happiness and relief.
Wang Lina, a Chinese medicine doctor aboard the maritime hospital, said that patients were particularly satisfied with the effectiveness of Chinese medicine treatment. Some patients had come for follow-up treatment and had achieved remarkable results after as few as three visits. Patients also requested treatment for other forms of chronic pain, and expressed their hopes that the hospital ship would stay in the Solomon Islands for longer. "The local volunteers aboard the ship have been inspired by the enthusiasm of the patients and have also requested treatment from us."
In addition to the main platform of the hospital ship, medical teams were dispatched to various communities every day for diagnosis and treatment. One local community strongly requested for Chinese medicine doctors to be dispatched. "As soon as we arrived at the community, we saw a long queue, and we immediately started diagnosis and treatment, using different methods for 80 patients." Although tired, Wang felt extremely gratified when she saw the relieved smiles on the patients' faces.
'Promote borderless peace'
The arrival of the Ark Peace wasn't just a rare opportunity for ordinary individuals, but also provided a unique experience for local officials as well. Apart from local residents, officials from the Solomon Islands also boarded the ship to tour and receive medical treatment.
The types of physical examinations carried out on officials included blood work, liver function, and kidney function. The examination team, led by two chief doctors aboard the ship, Tang Wei and Bian Qi, compiled detailed medical reports in both Chinese and English after examination.
"Once a patient requests it, we can provide one-on-one explanations according to the medical reports and suggest corresponding treatment plans," Tang said.
As an example, Tang mentioned the case of a 38-year-old patient from the Solomon Islands whose fasting blood sugar was as high as 14 during the examination. The individual had noticed elevated blood sugar levels for five years, and had a similar family history, but hadn't received proper guidance and treatment.
"Based on the examination results, I designed a treatment plan involving oral medication combined with insulin reinforcement, along with monitoring and adjustment strategies. The patient was especially pleased with the treatment advice and plan, and expressed hopes for a chance to meet again," Tang said.
When the Ark Peace stopped in Tonga, at the invitation of Tonga Prime Minister, Bian Qi spent nearly an hour conducting a detailed explanation of the prime minister's medical report and held discussions with the prime minister's personal doctor. "Both the prime minister himself and his private doctor gave very high praise to our medical results and recommendations," Bian said.
Chang Le, the director of the ship hospital, said that during the process of offering treatment plans to patients from various countries, they also genuinely felt the high recognition of their comprehensive medical and service capabilities.
"After communicating with national leaders and doctors, they would always express hopes for another opportunity to meet," Chang said.
Ship of Life, Ship of Peace, Ship of Friendship, Ship of Culture - these slogans could be seen in the ship's corridor. Deng, the captain, said he believed that this was the most accurate definition of the Ark Peace.
"As a hospital ship, the Ark Peace carries the duty of saving lives and providing medical care. Wherever it goes, it brings health and hope to local people, planting seeds of friendship in their hearts," Deng said.
The ship's name, "Peace," is what the world needs today. The good-will medical visit is a sure way of achieving peace, Manasseh Sogavare, Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, said while boarding the ship on August 20, according to a report by Solomon Islands Broadcasting.
Biblically, it was an "Ark" that God used to save the world. Thus, the boat saves lives and promotes borderless peace, said Sogavare.
China has been an active advocate, strong promoter and continuous contributor to the global poverty reduction agenda, and has always closely linked its own development to the global common development, Zhao Fengtao, vice chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, told a press briefing on Tuesday, when asked about how China is helping to alleviate poverty in third world countries.
"China has always paid attention to the development of global poverty reduction, and the [China-proposed] Global Development Initiative (GDI) also prioritizes poverty reduction among the eight areas of work," Zhao said at a press briefing of the State Council Information Office on Tuesday.
At the press briefing, China released a white paper entitled "A Global Community of Shared Future: China's Proposals and Actions." The white paper, which summarizes the meaning of building a global community of shared future, its practices and development, was released on the 10th anniversary of China's proposal of the idea.
According to Zhao, China has actively implemented demonstration projects on people's livelihoods and promoted China's experience in poverty reduction. China has helped a number of developing nations carry out 6,000 projects linked to livelihood, which have effectively elevated local sustainable development capacity, Zhao said, exemplified by the plantation of homegrown hybrid rice in 70 countries as well as the introduction of China's Juncao cultivation technology in over 100 nations.
As China's old saying goes, "If you want to be rich, first build a road," and China is playing a role in building transportation to facilitate poverty reduction in areas along the transportation link. Driving up social and economic development via boosting connectivity is a focal point of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Zhao noted.
Over the past decade, the BRI has fueled nearly $1 trillion in investment and lifted 40 million people out of poverty. There are multiple highlights of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, while BRI project in Ethiopia also makes the country have the first expressway in East Africa.
Zhao said that China also mobilizes development resources to facilitate the global poverty reduction agenda. China has announced the upgrading of the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund to a Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund and the increase of its total funding to $4 billion.
Under the framework, Chinese financial institutions have set up a special fund of $10 billion for implementing the GDI, and over 200 cooperation projects have been included in the GDI project pool, according to Zhao.
China has also shared its experience of poverty reduction in the context of Chinese modernization to other developing countries through education, training and think tank communication, as teaching a man how to fish matters more. For example, the Luban Workshop has helped train new types of skilled workers in over 20 countries, according to Zhao.
Wirun Phichaiwongphakdee, director of the Thailand-China Research Center of the Belt and Road Initiative, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the implementation of the concept of building a global community of shared future has given each individual country equal rights to development, and made the developing world able to lift itself out of poverty and genuinely participate in global governance.
The white paper released on Tuesday has been published in eight languages, including Chinese, English, French, Russia, German, Spanish, Arabic and Japanese. It has three parts - a preface, main body and conclusion. The main body has five sections, including "humanity at crossroads," "an answer to the calls of the time and a blueprint for the future," "deep roots in history and cultural tradition," "direction and path," "China's action and contribution."
China and the Philippines have so much that both sides can agree on that will benefit both countries, and certain differences should not be allowed to affect that, a special envoy of the president of the Philippines told the Global Times in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, the first such remarks by a person close to the president after the recent reemergence of tension between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.
The remarks came as the situation concerning Huangyan Island in the South China Sea has suddenly intensified over the removal of what the Philippines claimed is a "floating barrier" deployed by China. The action by the Philippines has cast a shadow of concern over bilateral relations.
Speaking at the Philippine Investors' Roadshow, a two-day trade and investment promotional event in Beijing on Wednesday, Special Envoy of the President of the Philippines to China for Trade, Investment and Tourism Maynard S. Ngu said that China has been such an important trading partner that cooperation should be further strengthened and disputes and disagreements should be resolved.
"I think there's always an issue, but at the end of the day, we can resolve all these issues. There are always misunderstandings, but we can still sit and talk over every misunderstanding… China has been a trading partner of the Philippines for at least 1,000 years, even before the Spanish came," Ngu said, adding that he doesn't see any issues or misunderstandings that cannot be resolved.
Wednesday's event is a follow-up for promotional trade and investment between the two countries started since the state visit of Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. to China earlier in 2023, with both sides underscoring the importance of maintaining the good momentum of bilateral relations.
In addressing the event through a recorded video, the president noted the importance for strengthening trade and investment with China and that the two countries are highly complementary, while also welcoming more Chinese investors to do business with the country.
China has been the Philippines' largest trading partner for seven consecutive years. In 2022, bilateral trade volume reached $87.73 billion, according to data released by China's General Administration of Customs. China firmly ranks as the Philippines' largest trading partner, largest source of imports, and third largest export destination.
Currently, more than 35 percent of the total imports of the Philippines come from China, and China is also one of the largest markets for the Philippines, according to Ngu.
Given what has been achieved so far, Ngu said that the two countries should continue and strengthen their economic, trade, cultural and developmental engagements and exchanges.
"Both China and the Philippines have so much that both can agree on that will benefit the two countries, and we should not allow one or two differences to affect that, as we continue to mutually respect each other's beliefs or positions while mutually seeking peaceful and diplomatic means of settling whatever disputes or disagreements our countries' may have at this time," the special envoy said, referring to the issue in the South China Sea.
The situation near Huangyan Island in the South China Sea suddenly intensified recently as the Philippines said it had removed a "floating barrier" China deployed near Huangyan Island, a claim questioned by experts who on Tuesday said that such hype does not fit the national interests of the Philippines, but that of the US.
At the regular press conference on Wednesday, spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wang Wenbin reiterated, in responding to a foreign media question over the recent issue, that Huangyan Island is China's inherent territory and the Philippines' so-called actions are purely a farce for its own entertainment.
"China will continue to firmly safeguard the territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests of Huangyan Island," Wang said.
In addressing the issue in the South China Sea, Philippine Senator Francis Chiz Escudero told the Global Times on Wednesday that the South China Sea issue is "the elephant in the room that needs to be addressed and set aside at the same time."
In further elaborating on his remarks, Escudero said, "We have so many things in common. We have so many things we can work on and cooperate on. And we should not let one difference affect that."
Escudero said that while this South China Sea issue has its complexity and challenges, "I firmly believe that dialogue and cooperation are essential to finding common ground and fostering mutually beneficial relations."
By collaborating in various sectors such as trade, investment, and innovation, the two nations can create mutually beneficial opportunities for business on both sides, Escudero said, adding that such partnerships create job opportunities, economic stability and ultimately improve the living standards for the people.
"Our differences should not be allowed to dictate our relations - that's our common ground, the things that we see eye to eye on should be the ones that dictate our relations. That has always been my position. And I believe that's also the position of our government as a whole," the senator said.
Nearly 35 percent of a group of 15.8 million Chinese adults were classified as overweight, while the prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher in northern China than southern China, according to media reports on Monday, citing a study on the prevalence of overweight and obesity in China. The topic of obesity triggered a wide discussion online on Monday, with many calling for a focus on healthier lifestyles.
A study titled "Prevalence of obesity and associated complications in China: A cross-sectional, real-world study in 15.8 million adults" was published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, a journal of pharmacology and therapeutics on August 17.
The study showed a digital version of the China obesity situation based on the BMI (body mass index) classification of overweight and obesity in the country, with 34.8 percent of the 15.8 million adult participants being considered overweight, and 14.1 percent diagnosed as obese.
Being overweight and obesity were more prevalent in male than female participants, with 41.1 percent of male participants being overweight. The prevalence of being overweight peaked at age 50-54 years-old in males and at age 65-69 years-old in females, according to the study.
The study was based on data obtained from 519 Meinian health check-up centers across 243 cities, with eligible participants aged 18 years-old and above. The prevalence rates of overweight and obesity nationwide were standardized according to the 2010 China census by age group and sex, according to the study.
According to both WHO and Chinese BMI classifications, the prevalence of both overweight individuals and obesity was higher in northern China than southern China, with the highest prevalence seen in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, East China's Shandong Province and North China's Hebei Province, according to the study.
Experts have noted that several factors have contributed to the high obesity rates in China such as sedentary lifestyles and a decrease in physical activity. Especially in teenagers, instances of being overweight or obese have become one of the serious challenges faced by young people, as it is reported that about 30 million teenagers are dealing with being either overweight or obese.
The country has recognized the severity of the obesity and has carried out measures to address the rising trend. In a notice released in July on improving China's basic public health services in 2023, the country has stressed the work in health services on key groups including prevention of overweight and obesity in children.
In 2020, Chinese authorities set a goal of reducing the average annual growth rates of overweight and obese children and adolescents by 70 percent from a baseline in the next 10 years.
A century and a half ago, a young paleontologist named Othniel Charles Marsh persuaded his uncle, philanthropist George Peabody, to give Yale University $150,000 for a museum of natural history. And so Yale’s Peabody Museum was born, an institution that has repeatedly upended how people understand Earth’s past. In House of Lost Worlds, Richard Conniff tells the story of the Peabody through the curious characters connected to it. Marsh is arguably the best known, for his fossil-collecting rivalry with Edward Drinker Cope (the infamous Bone Wars) and as the discoverer (or describer) of Stegosaurus, Brontosaurus, Triceratops and Allosaurus, to name a few. Other characters include James Dwight Dana, who Conniff calls “the Linnaeus of the geological world”; G. Evelyn Hutchinson, the father of modern ecology; and Hiram Bingham III, who brought Machu Picchu to public attention in the 1910s (and is thought, by some, to have been the inspiration for Indiana Jones). The book is celebration, not exposé, but Conniff still conveys the researchers’ full personalities, including their competitive natures, along with academic squabbling.
Squeezed in throughout is the story of the building itself — perpetually undersized and often underappreciated — yet, as Conniff seems to remind us, the place where the soul of the science resides. As Hutchinson said, the museum “began to play a great part in my life as soon as I stepped into it.”
Conniff doesn’t go so far as to suggest that the museum makes the man (and, through no fault of Conniff’s, most of the leading characters are men). But he views the Peabody as a rich repository of knowledge. Its walls enclose over 150 years of insights built on discoveries built on insights, ad infinitum. Without the artifacts brought back from Machu Picchu (later returned to Peru after a bitter battle), anthropologists wouldn’t have redefined the site as an estate for Incan emperors. It was Marsh’s studies of dinosaurs, and horses, that positioned the Peabody to teach evolution when others were attacking it. And the first reconstruction of a feathered dinosaur’s colors (SN: 2/27/10, p. 9) depended on a fossilized squid left mostly unnoticed in the Peabody for over a century.
Throughout the book, Conniff emphasizes the discoveries yet to be made and the pleasure of finding out something new. “Please,” he invites readers, “step inside.”
