And they have inked documents from the Constitution to the novels of Jane Austen.įeathers is a captivating and beautiful exploration of this most enchanting object. They have decorated queens, jesters, and priests. It's fully referenced, with footnotes (arranged at the back) providing details that would. Hanson’s book covers every aspect of feathersevolutionary, structural and functional, and finally cultural, showing all the ways that humans as well as birds use them. If so, it chose well I love nothing better than scientists who can write.

They silence the flight of owls and keep penguins dry below the ice. Feathers is a handy, compact volume, well illustrated throughout, and with a compelling, enjoyable prose. Thor Hanson, a field biologist, claims that the subject chose him. In Feathers, he interviews the leading proponents on all sides of the controversies that surround the origin and evolution. Applying the research of paleontologists, ornithologists, biologists, engineers, and even art historians, Hanson asks: What are feathers? How did they evolve? What do they mean to us?Įngineers call feathers the most efficient insulating material ever discovered, and they are at the root of biology's most enduring debate. Thor Hanson's storytelling is enhanced by his infectious excitement. In Feathers, biologist Thor Hanson details a sweeping natural history, as feathers have been used to fly, protect, attract, and adorn through time and place. Yet their story has never been fully told. The ground-up theory assumes they were fleet-footed ground dwellers that captured prey by leaping and flapping their upper limbs.

Scientists have long debated how the ancestors of birds evolved the ability to fly. They date back more than 100 million years. Thor Hanson, Feathers This passage is adapted from Thor Hanson, Feathers. Telling the story of the researchers’ work.As seen on PBS's American Spring Live, one of America's great nature-writers explores the magic and science of feathersįeathers are an evolutionary marvel: aerodynamic, insulating, beguiling. Hanson interviews most of the key players and explains the concepts by The story of how birds got their feathers, in other words it portrays the continuing uncertainty around the

Secondly, I was impressed by the way that Hanson conveys the more technical details of feather evolution in engaging and entertaining

Tougher and messier to pluck than you might imagine! (By the way, what's coming out of that beak sounds much nicer than this picture looks!) Such a little bird and provides a natural segue into the finer details ofĪ Pacific Wren seen in Ucluelet BC this past summer. Wondering!) begins with Hanson’s attempt to pluck a roadkill Pacific Wren. Most memorably, discussing the numbers and types of feathers on aīird (2,000-4,000 on a typical songbird, 25,000 on a swan if you were The book with personal anecdotes and then keeps all of the material framed

Feathers by Thor Hanson