Full name: Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle

Author: Thor Hanson Year: 2011 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: Science, Award winners, Non Fiction, Animals Purchase/reserch links: Amazon Goodreads LibraryThing ISBNs: 9780465028788 9780465020133 0465028780 0465020135

Feathers are an evolutionary marvel: aerodynamic, insulating, beguiling. They date back more than 100 million years. Yet their story has never been fully told. 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. 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? Engineers call feathers the most efficient insulating material ever discovered, and they are at the root of biology's most enduring debate. They silence the flight of owls and keep penguins dry below the ice. They have decorated queens, jesters, and priests. And they have inked documents from the Constitution to the novels of Jane Austen. Feathers is a captivating and beautiful exploration of this most enchanting object. Similar books: The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman The Most Perfect Thing by Tim Birkhead The Thing with Feathers by Noah Strycker The Life of Birds by David Attenborough Ravens in Winter by Bernd Heinrich Gifts of the Crow by John Marzluff Mind of the Raven by Bernd Heinrich Life on Earth by David Attenborough Where the Animals Go by James Cheshire Of Wolves and Men by Barry Holstun Lopez Honeybee Democracy by Thomas D. Seeley A Sting in the Tale by Dave Goulson The Ghost with Trembling Wings by Scott Weidensaul War of the Whales by Joshua Horwitz The Singing Life of Birds by Donald Kroodsma Eye of the Albatross by Carl Safina Voices in the Ocean by Susan Casey Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds by Lyanda Lynn Haupt Honey in a Hive by Anne Rockwell Why Elephants Have Big Ears by Chris Lavers