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.
Notes
Description based upon print version of record.
Bibliographic references
Includes bibliographical references (pages 467-496).
Source of description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)
Language note
English
Contents
Frontmatter
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1. Yesterday's Birds
Chapter 2. The Origin and Diversification of Species
Chapter 3. Birds on the Tree of Life
Chapter 4. Ebb and Flow
Chapter 5. Ecological Adaptations for Breeding
Chapter 6. Form and Function
Chapter 7. The Study of Instinct
Chapter 8. Behavior as Adaptation
Chapter 9. Selection in Relation to Sex
Chapter 10. Population Studies of Birds
Chapter 11. Tomorrow's Birds
Afterword
Appendix 1: Some Histories of Ornithology
Appendix 2: Five Hundred Ornithologists
Notes46
References
Index
Image Credits
Other format(s)
Issued also in print.
ISBN
9781786840745
178684074X
9781400848836
1400848830
OCLC
872656969
Doi
10.1515/9781400848836
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