内容简介
       The form the book has taken is a hybrid of what Ge Sun proposed,  his guidance and help,in relation to what I could accomplish in practical terms of a short schedule and the ability toformat and organize the sections of this publication during the fall of 2005.  Special thanksmust go to Professor Ge Sun for his continued help with many aspects of the organization andpublication of this book and to Terry Lott who helped with many of the practical details ofputting it all together. Thanks would be extended to Mr. Jingyi Weng, the Director of theShanghai Scientific and Technological Education Publishing House, and Prof. Yulin Bian, theExecutive Editor, and Mr. Shiliang Tang, the designer, of the book, for their kind help in edi-tion and publishing work for this book.     
内页插图
          目录
   Introduction
Preface
A young boy learns about nature
Growing up
A student looking for focus
Learning to be professional
A young professional
A young professor
The move to Florida
Graduate students, postdoctoral research assistants, technical
assistants and collection managers
Tools and questions
Ph.D., Masters degree, students, postdoctoral research assistants,
collection managers, and research assistants
Selected publications
Section I
Early Cretaceous
Cenozoic
Section II Hypothesis
Section III Micropaleontology
Section IV Paleoclimate
Section V Paleozoic
The Complete list of publications for David L. Dilcher (1961-2005)
Books
Papers Published in Reviewed Journals
In preparation
Submitted
Published
Presentations/Abstracts      
精彩书摘
       I grew seeds of this plant and wecleared the leaves,even the seedling leaves and alsobegan reconstructions of the fossils and diagrams ofthe living Platanus so common in Indiana.Then Istarted to grow seeds of some of the different speciesof Platanus.Julie completed a masters degree andthen transferred out of the lab.
    Chuck Daghlian was an undergraduate at IndianaUniversity and he took my Introductory Botany class.I invited him to work as an hourly worker in my labon fossil leaves from the middle Eocene.I had beenencouraged to publish some major work on these fos-sils rather than just one small paper on individualtaxa as I had been doing.So I began a major projecton the monocots of the middle Eocene.We had alarge Philodendron-like leaf and also I hired Frank Potter to work for several months on thepalm fossil material.I prepared lots of living material for cuticle which involved one trip toFairchild Tropical Gardens in Miami, to cut 25 pounds of costa palmate leaves from the palmsthey had growing.Herbarium specimens of palm leaves just did not give me enough charac-ters to work with. I knew we had Sabal palms of some sort and then there were others not yetidentified. Chuck Daghlian went to graduate school in Texas to work with Ted Delevoryas andcalled me one day and asked to take over the palm project for his Ph.D.  dissertation.I hadabout 1 1/2 years invested in the project,  but he had found palms in Texas and needed to com-bine these with the ones from Tennessee and needed the modern reference work I had done.So I gave him all my palm research materials.Now I see there are still some loose ends thatcould be done and hope some day to get back to this as palms are great plants and their evo-lution and distribution are very interesting.      
前言/序言
       
				 
				
				
					探索未知的旅程:《航海家之梦:探索新世界的足迹》  一、引言:时代的呼唤与个人的抉择  公元十五世纪末,广袤的大洋不再是欧洲人想象中无边无际的恐惧之源,而成为了连接已知与未知的金色通道。这是一个地理大发现的时代,是勇气、野心与命运交织的宏大叙事。在这样的时代背景下,我们聚焦于一位名叫亚历山大·科尔多瓦的航海家。他的一生,是与风暴、海图和异域文化紧密相连的史诗。  《航海家之梦:探索新世界的足迹》并非仅仅记录某次具体的航行,它更深入地剖析了亚历山大·科尔多瓦这个复杂个体的精神世界、他所处的社会环境以及他如何一步步将“不可能”变为“可能”。本书旨在通过他的视角,重构那个波澜壮阔的时代图景,揭示人类探索精神的本质。  二、第一部分:起锚之地——伊比利亚半岛的低语  1. 稚年的熏陶与早期训练 (1465-1485)  亚历山大出生于葡萄牙里斯本一个没落的贵族家庭,他的童年充满了海洋的盐味和旧日荣耀的残影。他的父亲曾是一位在非洲西海岸进行贸易的船长,这使得亚历山大自幼便对星象学、制图学和造船术产生了浓厚的兴趣。  本书的第一章详细描绘了当时葡萄牙宫廷对航海事业的重视,以及亚历山大如何通过非正统的渠道接触到那些失传的古老航海日志和阿拉伯星盘。我们考察了他早年在卡拉维尔帆船上担任初级航海员的经历,那段经历不仅磨练了他的技术,更塑造了他对未知海域的敬畏与渴望。  2. 信仰、政治与金钱的三角博弈 (1485-1492)  在那个年代,任何重大的远洋探险都离不开王室的赞助。亚历山大·科尔多瓦的早期计划,因其大胆和缺乏传统证据支持,曾屡遭葡萄牙宫廷的拒绝。他周旋于权力的中心,学习如何在赞助人的期望与科学的严谨之间寻找平衡点。  本章深入探讨了欧洲国家对香料、黄金以及“传播信仰”的狂热。亚历山大如何巧妙地利用西班牙王室伊莎贝拉女王对收复失地运动胜利后的扩张渴望,最终获得了他梦寐以求的支持,尽管他最初的计划更偏向于环绕非洲南部。  三、第二部分:跨越深渊——第一次远航的考验 (1492-1494)  1. 船队的选择与船员的构成  亚历山大在筹备这次远航时,坚持采用了他亲自监督建造的“圣玛利亚二号”——一种结合了欧洲快速帆船和早期卡拉克帆船优点的混合型舰船。本书详细分析了这艘船的设计图纸,特别是其对航行稳定性和载货能力的优化。  同时,船员的招募过程充满了戏剧性。亚历山大不仅需要经验丰富的水手,更需要学者、医生和具有外交天赋的人士。我们展示了当时船员的招募告示和薪酬结构,揭示了这次远航背后的人力成本与风险分摊机制。  2. 迷失与坚持:大西洋的心理战  从出发之初,亚历山大就面临着巨大的内部阻力。船员们对漫长旅程的恐惧、对“地平线尽头”的迷信,以及对补给耗尽的担忧,几乎导致了多次哗变。  本书的第三部分,通过对亚历山大留存的几页船上日志的细致解读,展现了他是如何利用天文观测、心理安抚和严厉的纪律来维系船队的。特别是关于“偏离航线”的争议,展示了他对地圆说的坚定信念,即使这与当时主流学者的看法相悖。  3. 初遇新陆:文化冲击与误解  当船队最终触及一块陌生的海岸线时,亚历山大的反应并非全然的狂喜,而是夹杂着审慎的观察。书中详尽记录了他与当地原住民部落——塔伊诺人的第一次接触。我们分析了双方在语言、礼仪和物物交换中产生的深刻误解,以及亚历山大在记录中流露出的,对异域文明的敬畏与潜在的征服欲之间的矛盾心理。  四、第三部分:重返与波折——荣耀背后的阴影 (1495-1505)  1. 归来后的喧嚣与压力  亚历山大的成功为他带来了巨大的声望和西班牙王室的重金奖励。然而,随之而来的还有更为严苛的期望。他必须在短时间内组织第二次、规模更大的探险队,目标是找到他深信存在的“通往东方”的航道。  2. 第二次航行的困境:资源枯竭与目标转移  第二次远航,在物资和人员上都更加充裕,但亚历山大却发现,那片他发现的“新大陆”似乎没有他想象中的黄金和丝绸。本章探讨了探险队如何从最初的“寻找航道”目标,逐步转变为“殖民地建立”和“资源开采”的艰难过程。书中细致对比了亚历山大在记录中对自然风光的赞美,与他对新定居点治理不善的焦虑。  3. 政治清算与晚年隐退  随着新大陆的复杂性增加,以及其他欧洲列强开始介入,亚历山大的政治处境变得岌岌可危。他被卷入了一场关于殖民地管理不善的指控中。本书的结论部分,聚焦于亚历山大最终选择放弃宫廷的庇护,回到他位于加利西亚的故乡。他的晚年生活,虽然远离了海洋的喧嚣,但却致力于整理他所有的航海笔记和绘制的星图。  五、结论:未尽的遗产  《航海家之梦》不仅仅是关于亚历山大·科尔多瓦一个人的传记,它是对人类永恒的探索欲的致敬。他或许没有找到传说中的“黄金国”,但他用自己的双脚和船桨,丈量了人类知识的边界。本书通过对原始文献、船载记录和家族信件的交叉比对,试图还原一个立体而有瑕疵的英雄形象,揭示一个伟大发现背后,是无尽的汗水、信念与牺牲。他的航行,永久地改变了世界的地图,也重塑了欧洲人的自我认知。