Discovering Birds: The Emergence of Ornithology as a Scientific Discipline, 1760-1850 - Softcover

"By situating the conceptual development of ornithology within its social and institutional context, Farber's study offers rich new materials and fresh insights into the problems of discipline building and professionalization in the natural science. An outstanding monograph."

"Farber's study is rigorous, thoughtfully articulated, and―at its best―clearly transcends the history of ornithology, natural history, and the history of science."

"Anyone concerned with the formation of new scientific disciplines will find Farber's account invaluable."

"A good resource for those interested in the early days and origins of ornithology."

In Discovering Birds, Paul Lawrence Farber rejects the view that eighteenth-century natural history disappeared with the rise of nineteenth-century biology. In this penetrating case study of the history of ornithology, Farber demonstrates interesting continuities: as natural history evolved into individual sciences (botany, geology, and zoology) and specialties (entomology and ichthyology), the study of birds emerged as a distinct scientific discipline that remained observational and taxonomic. Ornithologists continued to see one of their primary tasks as classification, and they found no need to alter their approach.

Their efforts were greatly aided at the end of the eighteenth century as colonization and exploration brought new dataa plethora of exotic and previously unknown birds. By the mid-nineteenth century, ornithology had become a scientific discipline with international experts, a large empirical base, and a rigorous methodology of watching and cataloging.