Review:
I'm trying to make myself read more nonfiction. Thor Hanson seemed to be a well-recommended science writer, and biology- and evolution-related topics interest me, so I decided to give this a try.
Near the end of the book is this quote:
"'Feathers are already incredible in every way!' [Dr. Kimberly Bostwick] exclaimed at one point. 'We just need to be able to see it.'" (260)
I felt like it summed up the primary appeal of this book for me. Looking at what we know about the evolution of feathers, the way they function, their use in flight and mating displays, and more, Hanson highlighted all sorts of ways feathers are amazing. If I'd ever been inclined to think they were ordinary and boring, this book would have convinced me otherwise. As it was, I hadn't realized how many aspects of feathers I'd never thought much about.
If I could have changed one thing about this book, it was the black-and-white illustrations. It's not possible for books like this to include illustrations featuring everything interesting in them, for sure, but the pictures in the chapter on feather coloration were so disappointing as to feel like a waste of space. If you're going to include pictures specifically designed to highlight the colors in an artist's reconstruction of a feathered dinosaur or the color of tevau (feather money coils), those pictures really need to be in color themselves.
All in all, this was a fascinating read, and I plan on trying more of Hanson's books.
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