Ten Thousand Birds : Ornithology since Darwin / Tim Birkhead, Jo Wimpenny, Bob Montgomerie.
2014
QL684.A4 .B384 2014eb
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Details
Title
Ten Thousand Birds : Ornithology since Darwin / Tim Birkhead, Jo Wimpenny, Bob Montgomerie.
Author
Birkhead, Tim.
ISBN
9781400848836 (electronic book)
1400848830 (electronic book)
0691151970 (hardcover)
9780691151977 (hardcover)
9781306428880
1306428882
9780691151977 (hardcover)
1400848830 (electronic book)
0691151970 (hardcover)
9780691151977 (hardcover)
9781306428880
1306428882
9780691151977 (hardcover)
Publication Details
Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2014.
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (xvii, 524 pages) : illustrations (some color), color maps
Call Number
QL684.A4 .B384 2014eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
598.29798
Summary
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.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note
Access restricted to authorized users.
Source of Description
Description based on print version record.
Added Author
Wimpenny, Jo.
Montgomerie, Robert D. (Robert Dennis)
Montgomerie, Robert D. (Robert Dennis)
Available in Other Form
Ten thousand birds.
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Table of Contents
Yesterday's birds
The origin and diversification of species
Birds on the tree of life
Ebb and flow
Ecological adaptations for breeding
Form and function
The study of instinct
Behavior as adaptation
Selection in relation to sex
Population studies of birds
Tomorrow's birds
Afterword
Appendix 1. Some histories of ornithology
Appendix 2. Five hundred ornithologists.
The origin and diversification of species
Birds on the tree of life
Ebb and flow
Ecological adaptations for breeding
Form and function
The study of instinct
Behavior as adaptation
Selection in relation to sex
Population studies of birds
Tomorrow's birds
Afterword
Appendix 1. Some histories of ornithology
Appendix 2. Five hundred ornithologists.