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Full Description
Ten Thousand Birds provides a thoroughly engaging and authoritative history of modern ornithology, tracing how the study of birds has been shaped by a succession of visionary and often-controversial personalities, and by the unique social and scientific contexts in which these extraordinary individuals worked. This beautifully illustrated book opens in the middle of the nineteenth century when ornithology was a museum-based discipline focused almost exclusively on the anatomy, taxonomy, and classification of dead birds. It describes how in the early 1900s pioneering individuals such as Erwin Stresemann, Ernst Mayr, and Julian Huxley recognized the importance of studying live birds in the field, and how this shift thrust ornithology into the mainstream of the biological sciences. The book tells the stories of eccentrics like Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen, a pathological liar who stole specimens from museums and quite likely murdered his wife, and describes the breathtaking insights and discoveries of ambitious and influential figures such as David Lack, Niko Tinbergen, Robert MacArthur, and others who through their studies of birds transformed entire fields of biology.
Ten Thousand Birds brings this history vividly to life through the work and achievements of those who advanced the field. Drawing on a wealth of archival material and in-depth interviews, this fascinating book reveals how research on birds has contributed more to our understanding of animal biology than the study of just about any other group of organisms.
Contents
Preface vii Chapter 1 Yesterday's Birds 1 Chapter 2 The Origin and Diversification of Species 43 Chapter 3 Birds on the Tree of Life 75 Chapter 4 Ebb and Flow 117 Chapter 5 Ecological Adaptations for Breeding 161 Chapter 6 Form and Function 201 Chapter 7 The Study of Instinct 245 Chapter 8 Behavior as Adaptation 287 Chapter 9 Selection in Relation to Sex 323 Chapter 10 Population Studies of Birds 355 Chapter 11 Tomorrow's Birds 389 Afterword 425 Appendix 1: Some Histories of Ornithology 431 Appendix 2: Five Hundred Ornithologists 434 Notes 443 References 467 Index 497 Image Credits 519
