On the evening of the 14th July last year, I attended a lecture at the Linnean Society of London being presented by Emeritus Professor Tim Birkhead. He has published a number of books in the past on various aspects of ornithology, but it was the launch of his new book Bird and Us that I was particularly looking forward to. This is a book that explores the relationship between people and birds (as the title indicates). This relationship is likely to have begun with the very early days of human history, with those avian angels stirring our imagination, inspiring and challenging our ideas about science, faith, art and philosophy. It is this relationship with nature which really makes me wonder about how we can help reconnect the wider public with the natural world, in order to help them realise why we need to fight to protect it. Birkhead however shared a number of his stories in studying bird populations for over 50 years that may help with this.
When you look to the skies above, what do you see? Historically, we have hunted birds for food (and we now raise chickens in their billions for this purpose), we have worshipped birds as gods (just look at the Ancient Egyptians for a couple of examples), and we have adorned ourselves in their feathers. Some could argue that the study of birds helped to advance the world of aerospace through the development of wings based on their own, but made from steel not flesh and bone. “Our shared history is one of history, science, and passion”, a message reiterated throughout the evening by Birkhead.
After a very insightful talk, exploring most of the major themes explored in his book, we all retreated upstairs to a drinks reception in Library, where Birkhead sold copies of Bird and Us. Of course I picked up a copy (but still need to read it), as well as having a quick conversation with Birkhead about some of his other books that I also asked him to sign. If his presentation was a true indication of the contents of the book of the same name, then it is going to be a spectacular read indeed! The Library at the Linnean Society is probably one of my favourite placed to visit in London, especially for occasions like this. I need to find more ways to spend time there and to engage with the Society, so watch this space.
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