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avesmaria's review against another edition
4.0
This was a brief, fun read, a bit short on the philosophy and concept of beauty, but long on the very interesting science of how feathers evolved, what they do, and the myriad ways in which birds and people make use of them. I've always loved watching birds, and I feel a bit more well-informed about the incredibly complex and amazing design of the feathers that propel them past my window. This would be a fun read for serious bird lovers or a layperson interested in vertebrate morphology or convergent evolution.
11corvus11's review against another edition
2.0
DNF 80% through. Are you interested in learning more about birds and feathers? Then the first third of this book is for you! The rest is not and I've given up after listening to a massive chunk devoted to fashion made it of feathers- first the kind where hunters wiped birds off the planet and next with the birds who didn't get any protection so people could keep making money slaughtering them. The author examines them with admiration and "academic" curiosity which I guess just means letting exploitation exist without enough criticism. but don't worry folks, they're "just" using "game" and "barnyard" feathers now. Those birds are ok to slaughter en masse and dye and adorn people who lack creativity for something that doesn't extravagantly state "i admire what this animal creates but detest the animals themselves." It's totally ok because those birds aren't protected by law.
lacyk_reads's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars. For the most part, I really liked this book. I'm not a huge fan of the Bernd Heinrich method of individual learning by grabbing birds. The author didn't describe doing much of that, but what he did describe was a little disappointing and unnecessary. Perhaps he was leaving out additional details, though. I'm very happy he took the opportunity to touch on wildlife rehabilitation, even if he didn't go into much detail - feather imping could have been an additional chapter! - but he expressed what to do if you find an injured bird.
The author had a few phrases that felt ... off-color to me. Maybe I'm being over sensitive but there seemed to be several areas of subtle sexism toward female humans - which didn't feel great. This is about birds and feathers, as they are truly amazing - why include any unnecessary generalizations about women? I didn't find these moments funny, but I think that's how the author intended it to be: a lighthearted phrase.
Otherwise, the information was great. Maybe not as thorough and complete as it could have been, but that's fine because it was a really good length with some specific but mostly general content. He spoke to many people in different fields and some with contrasting opinions. I like that two-sided perspective. The evolution section seemed the most thorough and interesting to me, but it was also interesting to learn various functions of feathers today - down for coats and pillows, fishing flies, the (small) movement to bring back feathers in fashion, and quill pens.
Overall, good book. I'd recommend if you are interested in learning general things about a specific topic.
The author had a few phrases that felt ... off-color to me. Maybe I'm being over sensitive but there seemed to be several areas of subtle sexism toward female humans - which didn't feel great. This is about birds and feathers, as they are truly amazing - why include any unnecessary generalizations about women? I didn't find these moments funny, but I think that's how the author intended it to be: a lighthearted phrase.
Otherwise, the information was great. Maybe not as thorough and complete as it could have been, but that's fine because it was a really good length with some specific but mostly general content. He spoke to many people in different fields and some with contrasting opinions. I like that two-sided perspective. The evolution section seemed the most thorough and interesting to me, but it was also interesting to learn various functions of feathers today - down for coats and pillows, fishing flies, the (small) movement to bring back feathers in fashion, and quill pens.
Overall, good book. I'd recommend if you are interested in learning general things about a specific topic.
ms_books's review against another edition
5.0
Thor Hanson is an incredible writer. He manage to vulgarize a complexe subject in a fun way with the use of many personal anecdotes and experiment. This makes the subject seems much more approachable.
jillannlim's review against another edition
5.0
For birders, educators, naturalists or the curious this is a wonderfully approachable read on feathers. Not dry or textbook like at all. It's easy to read and inspiring.
zebraglia's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.25
An interesting book about the feathers, from evolutionary/ historical/ ethological / developmental perspectives and how humans use feathers for various things.
I’d wish this book dive deeper into the biology and physics of feathers, rather than spending so many pages on human activities (e.g fly fishing, airplane, quill pens, decoration). The whole book feels a bit human-centric to me. In addition, I’m not found of the author detailing his “experiments” and “experiences”. I’d prefer seeing him visiting more professionals and describing more published works. Lastly, I’m not a fan of “looking through the author’s eyes” style writing. For example, when a new character appears, the book spends a whole paragraph on how the character look in the eye of the author.
Generally, I definitely enjoyed reading this book but maybe I’m not the best audience for the book. In my opinion, for the same 400 pages, you’d get a lot more information from Ed Yong’s immense world than from Feathers.
I’d wish this book dive deeper into the biology and physics of feathers, rather than spending so many pages on human activities (e.g fly fishing, airplane, quill pens, decoration). The whole book feels a bit human-centric to me. In addition, I’m not found of the author detailing his “experiments” and “experiences”. I’d prefer seeing him visiting more professionals and describing more published works. Lastly, I’m not a fan of “looking through the author’s eyes” style writing. For example, when a new character appears, the book spends a whole paragraph on how the character look in the eye of the author.
Generally, I definitely enjoyed reading this book but maybe I’m not the best audience for the book. In my opinion, for the same 400 pages, you’d get a lot more information from Ed Yong’s immense world than from Feathers.
lpush's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Absolutely loved how creative the author was while talking about what I thought would be the simple topic of feathers. The world of feathers both on birds and beyond is so incredible. The chapters on evolution were so informative.
esessa's review against another edition
5.0
The only problem with this book is that I wanted more. I would frequently turn a page and be discouraged to realize I'd reached the end of a chapter. There are so many interesting topics covered, and Hanson probably could have written double about each. The chapter on color left me particularly frustrated, but that's the only one where I felt he really didn't go into a proper level of depth. He did a great job on the other topics, I just wanted to know more about each of them.
haazex's review against another edition
4.0
This book was definitely about feathers. It emphasized the biology and natural history of birds, but often included substantial sojourns linked to humans. Topics such as the feather trade, fashion, quills, down jackets and pillows, fly fishing and more often took up my time. Personally I favored the details focusing on the evolutionary reasons for these amazing structures unique to the birds. Definitely an education from both an ornithological as well as an anthropological/ historical perspective. Hanson writes with passion and interest as he discusses feathers. Recommended for anybody interested in any aspect related to feathers (and, of course, to bird enthusiasts).
