A passion for birds : American ornithology after Audubon / Mark V. Barrow, Jr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Barrow, Mark V., Jr., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ornithology--United States--History.

Ornithology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (340 pages)

Edition:

2nd print.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [1998]

Summary:

In the decades following the Civil War--as industrialization, urbanization, and economic expansion increasingly reshaped the landscape--many Americans began seeking adventure and aesthetic gratification through avian pursuits. By the turn of the century, hundreds of thousands of middle-and upper-class devotees were rushing to join Audubon societies, purchase field guides, and keep records of the species they encountered in the wild. Mark Barrow vividly reconstructs this story not only through the experiences of birdwatchers, collectors, conservationists, and taxidermists, but also through those of a relatively new breed of bird enthusiast: the technically oriented ornithologist. In exploring how ornithologists struggled to forge a discipline and profession amidst an explosion of popular interest in natural history, A Passion for Birds provides the first book-length history of American ornithology from the death of John James Audubon to the Second World War. Barrow shows how efforts to form a scientific community distinct from popular birders met with only partial success. The founding of the American Ornithologists' Union in 1883 and the subsequent expansion of formal educational and employment opportunities in ornithology marked important milestones in this campaign. Yet by the middle of the twentieth century, when ornithology had finally achieved the status of a modern profession, its practitioners remained dependent on the services of birdwatchers and other amateur enthusiasts. Environmental issues also loom large in Barrow's account as he traces areas of both cooperation and conflict between ornithologists and wildlife conservationists. Recounting a colorful story based on the interactions among a wide variety of bird-lovers, this book will interest historians of science, environmental historians, ornithologists, birdwatchers, and anyone curious about the historical roots of today's birding boom.

Contents:

Cover page

Half-title Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter One: The Culture of Collecting

Roosevelt's Museum

The Culture of Collecting

Quantitative Dimensions

Collecting Conflicts

Chapter Two: Desiderata: Bird Collecting and Community

Recruiting Ridgway

Early American Collections

Collecting Networks

Serial Collecting

Sporting Naturalists

Collecting and Identification Guides

Perilous Pursuits

Women Ornithologists

Chapter Three: Forging Boundaries, Creating Occupational Space

The Gathering

The Nuttall Club

Creating the AOU

Amateurs and the AOU

Forging a Profession I

Forging a Profession II

The Shufeldt Affair

Membership Redux

Chapter Four: Nomenclatural Reform and the Quest for Standards and Stability

Disciplining Ornithology

The Geography of Species

The "American" Subspecies Concept

The AOU and Nomenclatural Reform

Plain English

Trinomial Woes

Chapter Five: Embracing and Abandoning Bird Protection

Chapman's Parakeets

Discovering Extinction

Embracing Bird Protection

Grinnell's A udubon Society

Critics of Conseiyation

Permit Perturbations

Abandoning Bird Protection

Chapter Six: Protecting Birds, Protecting Ornithologists

Reviving the Movement

Dutcher's Push for Protection

Redefining Ornithology

Conserve the Collector

A Crisis in Conservation

Renewing the Conservation Commitment

Chapter Seven: Birdwatchers, Scientists, and the Politics of Vision

Cooperation and Conflict

A Field Guide to Birdwatching

Constructing Obsen'ational Networks

Birdwatching, Bird Banding, and the Biological Survey

Cooperative Life-History Studies

The Problem of Sight Records

Palmer's Qualms

Chapter Eight: Reforming American Ornithology.

The State of the Union

Graduate Training in Ornithology

Enter Ernst Mayr

Making Space for Nice

Reforming the AOU

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-691-04954-8

0-691-23465-5

OCLC:

1261365530