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Taking Wing: Archaeopteryx and the Evolution of Bird Flight
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Taking Wing: Archaeopteryx and the Evolution of Bird Flight Paperback - 1999

by Pat Shipman


From the publisher

In 1861, just a few years after the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, a scientist named Hermann von Meyer made an amazing discovery. Hidden in the Bavarian region of Germany was a fossil skeleton so exquisitely preserved that its wings and feathers were as obvious as its reptilian jaws and tail. This transitional creature offered tangible proof of Darwin's theory of evolution.
Hailed as the First Bird, Archaeopteryx has remained the subject of heated debates for the last 140 years. Are birds actually living dinosaurs? Where does the fossil record really lead? Did flight originate from the "ground up" or "trees down"? Pat Shipman traces the age-old human desire to soar above the earth and to understand what has come before us. Taking Wing is science as adventure story, told with all the drama by which scientific understanding unfolds.

First line

The very first Archaeopteryx to be recognized was a feather impression, dark and clearly delineated on the pale, honey-colored limestone slab.

From the rear cover

In 1861, just a few years after the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, a scientist named Hermann von Meyer made an amazing discovery. Hidden in the Bavarian region of Germany was a fossil skeleton so exquisitely preserved that its wings and feathers were as obvious as its reptilian jaws and tail. This transitional creature offered tangible proof of Darwin's theory of evolution.

Hailed as the First Bird, Archaeopteryx has remained the subject of heated debates for the last 140 years. Are birds actually living dinosaurs? Where does the fossil record really lead? Did flight originate from the "ground up" or "trees down"? Pat Shipman traces the age-old human desire to soar above the earth and to understand what has come before us. Taking Wing is science as adventure story, told with all the drama by which scientific understanding unfolds.

Details

  • Title Taking Wing: Archaeopteryx and the Evolution of Bird Flight
  • Author Pat Shipman
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition 1st Touchstone E
  • Pages 336
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Touchstone Books, Old Tappan, New Jersey, U.S.A.
  • Date 1999-01-15
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Bibliography, Illustrated
  • ISBN 9780684849652 / 0684849658
  • Weight 1.12 lbs (0.51 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.12 x 5.96 x 0.83 in (23.16 x 15.14 x 2.11 cm)
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 97027527
  • Dewey Decimal Code 568

Media reviews

Citations

  • New York Times, 12/27/1998, Page 20

About the author

Pat Shipman, an anthropologist at Pennsylvania State University, is the author of The Evolution of Racism and, with Alan Walker, The Wisdom of the Bones. She has written extensively on evolution and anthropology for such magazines as Discover, Natural History, New Scientist, and Focus. She lives in State College, Pennsylvani
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Taking Wing Archaeopteryx and the Evolution of Bird Flight

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Taking Wing: Archaeopteryx and the Evolution of Bird Flight

Taking Wing: Archaeopteryx and the Evolution of Bird Flight

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Taking Wing: Archaeopteryx and the Evolution of Bird Flight
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Taking Wing : Archaeopteryx and the Evolution of Bird Flight
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Taking Wing : Archaeopteryx and the Evolution of Bird Flight

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Taking Wing: Archaeopteryx and the Evolution of Bird Flight
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Taking Wing: Archaeopteryx and the Evolution of Bird Flight

by Pat Shipman

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780684849652 / 0684849658
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