Sun, Sep 27
|Online Event
"Feathers - the Evolution of a Natural Miracle" by Thor Hanson - Book Club Selection
Time & Location
Sep 27, 2020, 2:00 PM – 3:20 PM
Online Event
About The Event
SIGN UP: To participate, register here and you will be sent a meeting link for the online discussion group.
Book for September 27th discussion: "Feathers - the Evolution of a Natural Miracle" by Thor Hanson
"Thor Hanson's Feathers is a sparkling history...popular natural history at its best."―New Scientist
ABOUT THE BOOK: 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.
Dr. Thor Hanson is a Guggenheim Fellow, a Switzer Environmental Fellow, and an award winning author and biologist. His book FEATHERS won the John Burroughs Medal and was nominated for the Samuel Johnson Prize. It also won the 2012 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize, as well as a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award. His first book, THE IMPENETRABLE FOREST, received the 2008 USA Book News Award for nature writing. Hanson's most recent book is THE TRIUMPH OF SEEDS. He lives with his wife and son on an island in the Pacific Northwest. Visit his website at www.thorhanson.net.
ABOUT "BIRD IS THE WORD" BOOK CLUB: We meet the last Sunday of each month from 2:00 to 3:30 PM. There is no commitment other than to enjoy reading and sharing books about birds and birding. Feel free to join us even if you have not read the book! At the group's next meeting (October 25th) we will discuss: TBA. Call or text: 772-872-1427 with any questions or for help ordering the book.