DRAGONS IN LEGEND

Among all the kinds of serpents there is none comparable to the dragon, or that affordeth and yeeldeth so much plentiful matter in history for the ample discovery of the natural thereof. the student will do very well to heed these words of natural philosopher and dragonologist Edward Topsell, in his 1607 book, The History of Four-footed Beasts. For while there is little in dragon legend that is perfectly true, there is also little that is entirely false, and the student should seek information from any other available source, with an entirely open mind.

The History of Four-footed Beasts picture.

DRAGONS IN SCIENCE

All scientific dragonologists must draw the conclusion, having read the work of Charles Darwin in The Origin of Species of 1859, that dragons, like all creatures, have evolved so as to best exploit the habitats in which they live. noble in form and majestic in fight, dragons have evolved enviable natural abilities. one wonders if mankind, through effort or science, may one day be able to imitate some of them.

Charles Darwin

REFUTING THE SCEPTICS

As dragonologists, we must be prepared to refute those who claim that dragons are unreal. consider how many creatures there may be that are still unknown to accepted science. when our scientists first heard of the duck-billed platypus in 1797, they laughed. how could an egg-laying mammal with a duck's beak and webbed feet exist? even when shown physical evidence, they cried "fraud!" yet by 1884, even the most skeptical had changed their opinion. recently, Henry Stanley learned of another apparently mythical animal, the okapi, while searching for Dr. Livingstone. with a giraffe's horns and zebra's legs, it has so intrigued scientists that they are determined to find one. yet there is no one who is willing to mount an expedition to bring dragons the scientific attention they deserve!

The remarkable Okapi---

a mythical beast or new 

scientific wonder of the 

African Congo.

A duck-billed platypus---

some believed that the 

original specimen was a

stitched-together fake.

FORWARD AN INTRODUCTION TO DRAGONOLOGY

Of all the natural sciences, dragonology is perhaps the most rewarding, being at the same time one of the oldest and the least researched. dragons have been studied since mankind's earliest days and yet, paradoxically, they are one of the least known of the earth's creatures. so while many scientists believe that the vast majority of the world's flora and fauna are now understood, in the little-known field of dragonology the way lies open for exciting new discoveries.

most of the information in this blog is taken from the book dragonology - edited by 

Dugald A. Steer, B.A. (BRIST), S.A.S.D.