Red Canary [Paperback]

Tim Birkhead (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 2004

In 1921, forty-year-old schoolteacher Hans Duncker set off through the streets of Bremen. Near the cathedral, he heard a nightingale singing - but this was August and no one had ever heard a nightingale sing in the middle of the town at this time of year. In fact, the bird he heard was extraordinary - it was a special canary (a nightingale-canary) that Karl Reichs, a bird keeper, had engineered through a decade of dedicated breeding. With Reich's knowledge of birds and Duncker's expertise in genetics, the two joined forces and devised the audacious plan to create a brand new bird - a red canary. Favoured originally for their voices, canaries were once so rare that they were worth more than their weight in gold and had been exported in their millions. With Duncker and Reich's research, the canary once more took centre stage - this time in the race to create a genetically engineered animal. But it wasn't until an Englishman and an American recognised that the red canary would need to be a product of both nature AND nurture that the project was finally brought to fruition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

We're delighted to announce that The Red Canary has won the Consul Cremer Prize for outstanding achievements in aviculture! "Takes a small episode from history and draws a surprisingly important lesson from it, in an elegant and diverting way."SUNDAY TELEGRAPH "His grasp of the science involved is to be expected from a professor of behaviour and evolution. What is more surprising is his capacity to make it not just comprehensible but fascinating, but makinghis own genetic cross of science, philosophy, history, sociology and narrative."NEW STATESMAN "Tim Birkhead's book would be worth the cover price for itsaccount of this extraordinary vanished subculture alone, but that's really just the historical setting for a fascinating, in some ways even thrilling, story"THE SCOTSMAN Books are just in and publicity is going well on this title,with reviews already confirmed in TIME OUT, NEW SCIENTIST, NATURE. The author has also written an article for THE THES. The new Dana Centre at the Science Museum are very interested in doing an event when they open in November andI have just confirmed an event at the Royal Institution for 16 September. The author is also attending the Edinburgh Festival on 22 August Advance quotes: "Rich in historical detail, studded with curious characters-some of themhuman-and brimming with scientific insights, reads like a fine novel."Matt Ridley "Most engagingly Tim Birkhead reveals how the new world of Mendelian genetics allowed canary fanciers to dream of red canaries.'Jim Watson author of TheDouble Helix 'Biological scholarship, social history and biography merge deftly in this marvellously illuminating study of the forgotten but crucial roleplayed by the humble canary and some of its admirers in the development of genetic and behavioural science.'Nigel Collar, BirdLife International. 'In RedCanary Tim Birkhead teases out in a refined and deceptively simple style a complex tale of Europe's early obsession with caged songbirds; and in particular the dreams of two German breeders to create the world's first genetically engineered bird. Into a narrative of avian science and genetics he is able toweave with equal grace and authority accounts of Renaissance Art, Mozart opera, Spain's imperial adventures in the New World, the Huguenot persecutions and a large slice of modern European history. The result is popular science atits very best - a perfect blend of exactness and superb entertainment.... popular science at its very best--a perfect blend of exactness and superb entertainment."Mark Cocker author of Birders and Birds Britannica 'From the quest for a red canary, Tim Birkhead weaves deftly through genetic engineering, Nazi science, painting, music, exploration, class conflict, animal rights and much more. The detective story is gripping, the science authoritative. A treat,whatever your interests.'Helena Cronin, author of The Ant and the Peacock. "This fascinating story is beautifully told by a master bird man and reads like a biological allegory for our times-genes and environment woven together toproduce a successful outcome." - Robert Trivers, RutgersUniversity, author of Natural Selection and Social Theory 'A gem of scientific exposition for thelay reader, In which central ideas from genetics and evolution slip easily into the Mind along with the plot. A fascinating book and a real pleasure to read.'Ian Newton, Author of Finches; Monks Wood "This tale of scientific research, intuition and determination runs from medieval bird-lore to the world ofVictorian bird breeding and beyond, all skillfully woven with the struggle to create new kinds of canary... an intriguing and unusual story about genetics-with all its false starts, dashed hopes and achievements-that gives these attractive little birds their moment in history."Janet Browne, author of Charles Darwin: Voyaging and Charles Darwin: The Power of Place --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Tim Birkhead is Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Sheffield. He has been President of the International Society of Behavioural Ecology, is a member of the Darwin Correspondence Project committee and he regularly contributes to radio and science television programmes, newspapers and magazines.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Phoenix Paperbacks (May 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753817721
• ISBN-13: 978-0753817728
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,367,372 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genetics and canaries, July 20, 2006

By 

Ruben Agrelo "Dr Strange" (Montevideo Uruguay) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red Canary (Paperback)

This book is the first one that describes how the red canary was created or "engineered".Genes coming from the "cardenalito de Venezuela" were incorporated into canaries...
It combines genetics,science history and passion for canaries.Very well written the story begin in the pre war times in Germany where the experiments were performed.
The title is also very suggestive as the bird was engineered before the DNA molecule structure was described and of course before the genetic engineering revolution.