> > > Ten Thousand Birds: Ornithology since Darwin by > Birkhead, T. and Wimpenny, J., Montgomerie, B., Princeton UP > > This isn’t really a review, merely a caution. I found this book to be extremely badly written and organised and extremely unclear in its explanations. I just wanted to let BA readers know my opinion so they can bear it in mind when deciding whether to buy or borrow this book. > > The main problem with this work, which is organised around a series of key concepts in ornithology and which traces their evolution (:-) ) through the late C19, the C20 and the early C21, is that their explication of these ideas is very poor. Where I understood what these concepts were, and some of the history of the concept, I thought their explanations wouldn’t > help others to understand. Where I didn’t know what some of the positions of researchers were I found it impossible to work out from the information they supplied what the differences were. For example, they state that the conclusions regarding natural selection pressures on Darwin’s Finches of Lack and Bowman are fundamentally different, but I can’t actually work out from their explication what the difference is, and it sounds from their words as though Lack and Bowman are pretty close in their ideas. > > Anyway, IMHO a book to approach warily. > > John Leonard > > _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
I have also have read The Wisdom of Birds and found it excellent. Might have to buy Ten Thousand Birds and see for myself. At AUD 48.51, it is not that big an investment. Carl Clifford _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Dear John / everyone, I was thinking of posting a review of this book too, but I was going to say I think it is an excellent book which I strongly recommend! I’ve previously read The Wisdom of Birds by the lead author, Tim Birkhead. This book takes a similar approach; it is a historical study of how our understanding of various areas of ornithological knowledge has developed over time. It covers a variety of areas ranging from taxonomy and the relationship between birds and dinosaurs, through to migration and group ecology. In the introduction they say they started planning the book by asking a number of scientists who they regarded the most influential ornithologists of the twentieth century. The top ten are all featured to various degrees in the book, particularly the top names such as David Lack, Ernst Mayr and Niko Tinbergen. But it was interesting to see how many of the results and theories of those top ten are now seen as wrong or at least grossly oversimplified. I found the mixture of big picture overview and personal anecdotes from key players made an effective and engaging story. I can understand your criticism and yes there were a couple of areas where I’d have liked more detail to be provided. But I didn’t find that distracted my overall positive impression. Anyway, people can have a look at their website, http://www.myriadbirds.com and read the samples. They are planning on posting the audio recordings of their interviews with various ornithologists on the website in the next few months, which I am looking forward to. Murray Lord _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org