Ten thousand birds : ornithology since Darwin / Tim Birkhead, Jo Wimpenny, Bob Montgomerie.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Birkhead, Tim, author.

Wimpenny, Jo, author.

Montgomerie, Robert D. (Robert Dennis), author.

Contributor:

Credo Reference (Firm), distributor.

Series:

Gale eBooks

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882--Influence.

Darwin, Charles.

Ornithology--History--19th century.

Ornithology.

Ornithology--History--20th century.

Ornithology--History--21st century.

Ornithologists.

Birds.

Evolution (Biology).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 524 pages) : illustrations (some color), color maps

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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:

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

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 467-496).

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

ISBN:

9781786840745

178684074X

9781400848836

1400848830

OCLC:

872656969