BIRDS AND BOOKS READING GROUP
Archives of all the Books we've read by year
In case you want to find a book to read about Birds, Nature, Evolution, Adventure....
Archives of all the Books we've read by year
In case you want to find a book to read about Birds, Nature, Evolution, Adventure....
2015 BIRDS AND BOOKS
January 28, 2015
THE MONKEY’S VOYAGE: HOW IMPROBABLE JOURNEYS SHAPED THE HISTORY OF LIFE, by Alan de Queiroz
In The Monkey’s Voyage, biologist Alan de Queiroz describes the radical new view of how fragmented distributions came into being: frogs and mammals rode on rafts and icebergs, tiny spiders drifted on storm winds, and plant seeds were carried in the plumage of sea-going birds to create the map of life we see today. In other words, these organisms were not simply constrained by continental fate; they were the makers of their own geographic destiny. And as de Queiroz shows, the effects of oceanic dispersal have been crucial in generating the diversity of life on Earth, from monkeys and guinea pigs in South America to beech trees and kiwi birds in New Zealand. By toppling the idea that the slow process of continental drift is the main force behind the odd distributions of organisms, this theory highlights the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the history of life.
February 25, 2015
ATLAS OF RARE BIRDS, by Dominic Couzens
This book offers a guide to some of the rarest birds in existence, with maps that show where to find them. Focusing on 50 captivating stories of the very rare, it describes remarkable discoveries of species not seen for centuries and brought back from the brink of extinction, successes like the Seychelles Magpie-Robin and the California Condor. The book is organized around key groups of species, with each species the subject of its own mini-chapter; we learn about the five most amazing tales of island endemics, the five most bizarre cases of birds becoming threatened, and other astonishing tales of bird life. Atlas of Rare Birds is an accessible, readable, and visually appealing take on the serious subject of threatened birds and possible extinctions—a timely topic because of increasing concerns about climate change and habitat destruction. The atlas format—featuring 200 color photographs and 61 color maps—shows the global nature of the problem and brings together the many strands of the concerted bird conservation effort taking place on every continent. Atlas of Rare Birds is published in association with BirdLife International, the world's largest global alliance of bird conservation organizations.
March 25, 2015
THE MEANING OF HUMAN EXISTENCE, by E.O. Wilson
National Book Award Finalist.
How did humanity originate and why does a species like ours exist on this planet? Do we have a special place, even a destiny in the universe? Where are we going, and perhaps, the most difficult question of all, “Why?” In The Meaning of Human Existence, his most philosophical work to date, Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist Edward O. Wilson grapples with these and other existential questions, examining what makes human beings supremely different from all other species. Searching for meaning in what Nietzsche once called "the rainbow colors" around the outer edges of knowledge and imagination, Wilson takes his readers on a journey, in the process bridging science and philosophy to create a twenty-first-century treatise on human existence—from our earliest inception to a provocative look at what the future of mankind portends.
April 22, 2015
TEN THOUSAND BIRDS: ORNITHOLOGY SINCE DARWIN, by Tim Birkhead
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.
May 27, 2015
THE ARDENT BIRDER, by Todd Newberry and Gene Holtan
If you wash dishes with binoculars around your neck, own more spotting scopes than shoes, and read the Bird Chat listerv before and after your first cup of coffee, then you can only be one thing: an ardent birder. Biology professor and lifelong devotee of our fine-feathered friends, Todd Newberry has written 50 short essays that range from meditations on bird-watchers' daily events to philosophies of why they do what they so ardently love to do. The Ardent Birder is the first book in the vast field of popular birding literature to focus on the birder, not just the bird. It includes 75 whimsical drawings and suggestions for how intermediate-level birders can hone and share their skills in the field.
August 26, 2015
THE SIXTH EXTINCTION: AN UNNATURAL HISTORYby Elizabeth Kolbert
Over the last half-billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. In prose that is at once frank, entertaining, and deeply informed, New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. Interweaving research in half a dozen disciplines, descriptions of the fascinating species that have already been lost, and the history of extinction as a concept, Kolbert provides a moving and comprehensive account of the disappearances occurring before our very eyes. She shows that the sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy, compelling us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.
September 23, 2015
THE BIRDS OF PANDEMONIUMby Michele Raffin
Pandemonium, the home and bird sanctuary that Michele Raffin shares with some of the world’a most remarkable birds, is a conservation organization dedicated to saving and breeding birds on the edge of extinction, with the goal of eventually releasing them into the wild. In The Birds of Pandemonium she lets us into her world— and theirs. Birds fall in love, mourn, rejoice, and sacrifice; they have a sense of humor, invent, plot, and cope. They can teach us volumes about the interrelationships of humans and animals.
October 28, 2015
GIFTS OF THE CROW: HOW PERCEPTION, EMOTION, AND THOUGHT ALLOW SMART BIRDS TO BEHAVE LIKE HUMANS by John M. Marzluff, PhD and Tony Angell
With an abundance of funny, awe-inspiring and poignant stories, Gifts of the Crow portrays creatures who are nothing short of amazing. A testament to years of painstaking research and careful observation, this fully illustrated, riveting work is a look at one of nature’s most wondrous creatures whose marvelous brains allow them to think, plan and reconsider their actions. Crows gather around their dead, recognize people, commit murder of other crows, lure fish and birds to their death, swill coffee, drink beer and work in tandem to spray soft cheese out of a can. And because they live near us, they are keenly aware of our own peculiarities.
January 28, 2015
THE MONKEY’S VOYAGE: HOW IMPROBABLE JOURNEYS SHAPED THE HISTORY OF LIFE, by Alan de Queiroz
In The Monkey’s Voyage, biologist Alan de Queiroz describes the radical new view of how fragmented distributions came into being: frogs and mammals rode on rafts and icebergs, tiny spiders drifted on storm winds, and plant seeds were carried in the plumage of sea-going birds to create the map of life we see today. In other words, these organisms were not simply constrained by continental fate; they were the makers of their own geographic destiny. And as de Queiroz shows, the effects of oceanic dispersal have been crucial in generating the diversity of life on Earth, from monkeys and guinea pigs in South America to beech trees and kiwi birds in New Zealand. By toppling the idea that the slow process of continental drift is the main force behind the odd distributions of organisms, this theory highlights the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the history of life.
February 25, 2015
ATLAS OF RARE BIRDS, by Dominic Couzens
This book offers a guide to some of the rarest birds in existence, with maps that show where to find them. Focusing on 50 captivating stories of the very rare, it describes remarkable discoveries of species not seen for centuries and brought back from the brink of extinction, successes like the Seychelles Magpie-Robin and the California Condor. The book is organized around key groups of species, with each species the subject of its own mini-chapter; we learn about the five most amazing tales of island endemics, the five most bizarre cases of birds becoming threatened, and other astonishing tales of bird life. Atlas of Rare Birds is an accessible, readable, and visually appealing take on the serious subject of threatened birds and possible extinctions—a timely topic because of increasing concerns about climate change and habitat destruction. The atlas format—featuring 200 color photographs and 61 color maps—shows the global nature of the problem and brings together the many strands of the concerted bird conservation effort taking place on every continent. Atlas of Rare Birds is published in association with BirdLife International, the world's largest global alliance of bird conservation organizations.
March 25, 2015
THE MEANING OF HUMAN EXISTENCE, by E.O. Wilson
National Book Award Finalist.
How did humanity originate and why does a species like ours exist on this planet? Do we have a special place, even a destiny in the universe? Where are we going, and perhaps, the most difficult question of all, “Why?” In The Meaning of Human Existence, his most philosophical work to date, Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist Edward O. Wilson grapples with these and other existential questions, examining what makes human beings supremely different from all other species. Searching for meaning in what Nietzsche once called "the rainbow colors" around the outer edges of knowledge and imagination, Wilson takes his readers on a journey, in the process bridging science and philosophy to create a twenty-first-century treatise on human existence—from our earliest inception to a provocative look at what the future of mankind portends.
April 22, 2015
TEN THOUSAND BIRDS: ORNITHOLOGY SINCE DARWIN, by Tim Birkhead
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.
May 27, 2015
THE ARDENT BIRDER, by Todd Newberry and Gene Holtan
If you wash dishes with binoculars around your neck, own more spotting scopes than shoes, and read the Bird Chat listerv before and after your first cup of coffee, then you can only be one thing: an ardent birder. Biology professor and lifelong devotee of our fine-feathered friends, Todd Newberry has written 50 short essays that range from meditations on bird-watchers' daily events to philosophies of why they do what they so ardently love to do. The Ardent Birder is the first book in the vast field of popular birding literature to focus on the birder, not just the bird. It includes 75 whimsical drawings and suggestions for how intermediate-level birders can hone and share their skills in the field.
August 26, 2015
THE SIXTH EXTINCTION: AN UNNATURAL HISTORYby Elizabeth Kolbert
Over the last half-billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. In prose that is at once frank, entertaining, and deeply informed, New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. Interweaving research in half a dozen disciplines, descriptions of the fascinating species that have already been lost, and the history of extinction as a concept, Kolbert provides a moving and comprehensive account of the disappearances occurring before our very eyes. She shows that the sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy, compelling us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.
September 23, 2015
THE BIRDS OF PANDEMONIUMby Michele Raffin
Pandemonium, the home and bird sanctuary that Michele Raffin shares with some of the world’a most remarkable birds, is a conservation organization dedicated to saving and breeding birds on the edge of extinction, with the goal of eventually releasing them into the wild. In The Birds of Pandemonium she lets us into her world— and theirs. Birds fall in love, mourn, rejoice, and sacrifice; they have a sense of humor, invent, plot, and cope. They can teach us volumes about the interrelationships of humans and animals.
October 28, 2015
GIFTS OF THE CROW: HOW PERCEPTION, EMOTION, AND THOUGHT ALLOW SMART BIRDS TO BEHAVE LIKE HUMANS by John M. Marzluff, PhD and Tony Angell
With an abundance of funny, awe-inspiring and poignant stories, Gifts of the Crow portrays creatures who are nothing short of amazing. A testament to years of painstaking research and careful observation, this fully illustrated, riveting work is a look at one of nature’s most wondrous creatures whose marvelous brains allow them to think, plan and reconsider their actions. Crows gather around their dead, recognize people, commit murder of other crows, lure fish and birds to their death, swill coffee, drink beer and work in tandem to spray soft cheese out of a can. And because they live near us, they are keenly aware of our own peculiarities.
