|
| Pteranodon Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834-1906) was an astrophysicist. He became third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in 1887. He was also an inventor of early flying machines. In 1900, during the height of Langely’s investigations into flying machines, Langley commissioned an oil painting of the flying reptile Pteranodon by a colleague named Robert Child. This painting was given an official USNM catalogue number, normally used only for the specimen collection. |