Reddit reviews Bully for Brontosaurus: Reflections in Natural History

There's a long and ugly story behind that. In the 1800s there was some nasty competition between American paleontologists Charles Marsh and Edward Cope. These 2 men were driven by vanity more than science, and each despised each other. This was called the "Bone Wars". Did I mention it got ugly? Deliberately taking dynamite to the other's dig site to destroy fossil specimens ugly. Each was trying to make a name for themselves while ruining the other's.

Anyhow, Marsh was known for sacrificing quality for quantity in his research. He found a partial sauropod fossil and dubbed it Apatosaurus. It was an incomplete specimen and poorly described, more because he couldn't be bothered to finish the excavation because he needed to keep moving find new specimens. Even the name doesn't fit ~ Apatosaurus means "Deceptive Lizard".

Meanwhile Cope was taking his time at a particular excavation (for a change, at least) and meticulously unearthed a sauropod specimen. He named it Brontosaurus meaning "Thunder Lizard". Much more apt for a giant dinosaur.

Unfortunately, nomenclature always defers to the specimen named first. Apatosaurus, half-assed and poorly named, was recognized before Brontosaurus was. Once the 2 specimens were determined to be the same species, Brontosaurus was dropped. By this time it was in the early 1900s, and would take decades yet to take effect.

There are paleontologists to this day that still call it Brontosaurus and refuse the name change. More on principle than anything, Marsh should not be rewarded with a legacy for cutting corners and having no work-ethic.

Steven J. Gould was a very respected paleontologist, and biologist in general that wrote a book that touches on the matter called Bully for Brontosaurus

Absolutely. And furthermore, let me say this: if they push me to the point where I feel the need to filibuster, I will take the opportunity to educate them. How? By reading books on the floor of the House like Guns, Germs, and Steel (so they understand better where we came from), The Black Hole War, Bully for Brontosaurus (so they understand a little bit about science), and Subliminal, so they know how the NRA and Fox News is killing their minds.

Freethinkers by Jacoby was quite interesting.

Another that may be a little out of your comfort zone is any collection of essays by Stephen Jay Gould, for example Bull for Brontosaurus or Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes. He would engage often in anti-creationism and participated in a mock recreation of the Scopes trial on an anniversary. He gives great explanations of evolution to the layman which is his primary focus, but one needs a good science grounding to argue against creationists. After that, you could check out one of his regular books perhaps.

There's also an excellent discussion of this in Stephen Jay Gould's book, Bully for Brontosaurus. It's the fifth essay in this book of many excellent essays.