| Author/Contributor(s): | Tate, Peter |
| Publisher: | Henry Sotheran |
| Date: | 1986 |
| Binding: | Hardcover |
| Condition: | USED – Very good. An unmarked copy with tight binding and some moderate shelf wear. |
Ornithology during the course of its long history from casual observation to a fully fledged biological science has produced a wide and varied literature. Beginning with a trickle of disjointed and often inaccurate observations, it gradually increased to a torrent of books, pamphlets and journals.
Moving from medieval church records to the present day the author follows the course of Ornithology and its expression through literature. He shows how the role of the ornithologist changed and how the discipline was influenced by great Naturalists like Linne, Gilbert White and Charles Darwin. The author also examines the men behind Ornithology’s own great names, Henry Dresser, Audubon, John Gould, Lord Lilford, Richard Bowdler-Sharpe and Harry Witherby to name but a few. Less obvious influences, the development of technology, trade and war are shrewdly appraised with some thought provoking conclusions.