9780008645540_

From acclaimed science writer Matt Ridley, a new book that studies the peculiar mating behaviour of birds to better understand the origin of beauty and humanity itself.

In all animals, mating is a deal. But few creatures behave as if sex is a simple transaction. Many treat it with reverence, suspicion, angst and violence. In the case of the Black Grouse, the bird at the center of Matt Ridleys investigation, the males dance and sing for hours a day, for several exhausting months, in an exhausting and sometimes deadly ritual called a lek. To prepare for the ordeal, they grow, preen and display fancy, twisted, bold-colored feathers.

But why are males the eager sellers and females the discerning buyers? Why do increasingly baroque and bizarre males put themselves at risk of attack by circling hawks and rival birds? And why are these displays considered beautiful by humans at all? While the full answer remains a mystery, Charles Darwin thought the purpose of such displays was to charm females. Though Darwins theory was initially dismissed and buried for decades, recent scientific research has proven him right there is a powerful evolutionary force quite distinct from natural selection: mate choice.

Using an early morning lek as his starting point, Ridley explores the evolution of bright colors, exotic ornaments and elaborate displays in birds around the world. He reopens the history of Darwins vexed theory, laying bare a century of disagreement about an idea so powerful, so weird, so wonderful, we may have yet to understand all its implications. Birds, Sex and Beauty is a curious and insightful investigation that seeks to uncover the origin of beauty itself a path that might hold the key to understanding the human mind.

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In his new book, acclaimed science writer Matt Ridley looks to the peculiar mating rituals of birds to better understand the rich origins and ongoing significance of Darwins sexual selection theory.

Matt Ridley is one of our finest science writers A treat for bird lovers and evolutionary biologists alike Richard Dawkins

Animals rarely treat sex as a simple or mutually beneficial transaction. Choosing a mate is often a transcendent event to be approached with reverence, suspicion, angst and quite a bit of violence. For Matt Ridley, nowhere is this more acute than in birds.

From a freezing hide on the Pennine moors at dawn, Ridley closely studies the rare Black Grouse. He is there for the lek an elaborate courtship ritual of squabbling and strutting males. They dance and sing for hours each day to attract a mate over several months. With most males leaving exhausted and unsuccessful, Ridley looks at how females make their choice to cast fresh light on how such rituals have evolved and why.

His pursuit follows five generations of biologists from Darwin and Wallace to the present day, uncovering how they have grappled with the implications of sexual selection as an eccentric, gonzo form of evolution. While most Victorian scientists found it impossible to believe female birds could select mates, Darwin was obsessed with the idea of sexual as well as natural selection.

Drawing on his own lifelong passion, Ridley eavesdrops on the elaborate displays of bird species around the world, from the complex art installations made by Bowerbirds in Australia to the bubbling calls of Curlews in the UKs declining moorlands. In a wonderful blend of nature writing and elegant exploration of recent evolutionary theory, Birds, Sex and Beauty shows not only how mate choice has shaped the natural world, including humans, but how the song and plumage of birds can be thrillingly, breathtakingly beautiful.

A tour de force! Simply the best account among a great many of Darwins ground-breaking and far-reaching concept of sexual selection Tim Birkhead, author of The Wisdom of Birds

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FascinatingThe Times

Matt Ridley is one of our finest science writers A treat for bird lovers and evolutionary biologists alike Richard Dawkins

Most of this fascinating and accessible book is about birdsRidley, very clearly, loves birds and the enthusiasm is infectiousThe Times

A tour de force! Simply the best account among a great many of Darwins ground-breaking and far-reaching concept of sexual selection Tim Birkhead, author of The Wisdom of Birds

...(*_*)9780008645540_

FascinatingThe Times

Matt Ridley is one of our finest science writers A treat for bird lovers and evolutionary biologists alike Richard Dawkins

Clear and entertaining Ridley explains all this history with lucidity and witNew Statesman

Most of this fascinating and accessible book is about birds Ridley, very clearly, loves birds and the enthusiasm is infectiousThe Times

A tour de force! Simply the best account among a great many of Darwins ground-breaking and far-reaching concept of sexual selection Tim Birkhead, author of The Wisdom of Birds

...(*_*)9780008645540_

FASCINATING The Times

Matt Ridley is one of our finest science writers A treat for bird lovers and evolutionary biologists alike Richard Dawkins

Clear and entertaining Ridley explains all this history with lucidity and witNew Statesman

Most of this fascinating and accessible book is about birds Ridley, very clearly, loves birds and the enthusiasm is infectiousThe Times

This is a fascinating story told with wit, scholarship and the passion of a true conversationist. Lord Ridley writes in the best tradition of great British naturalists Country Life

A tour de force! Simply the best account among a great many of Darwins ground-breaking and far-reaching concept of sexual selection Tim Birkhead, author of The Wisdom of Birds

...(*_*)9780008645540_

FASCINATING The Times

Matt Ridley is one of our finest science writers A treat for bird lovers and evolutionary biologists alike Richard Dawkins

Clear and entertaining Ridley explains all this history with lucidity and witNew Statesman

Most of this fascinating and accessible book is about birds Ridley, very clearly, loves birds and the enthusiasm is infectiousThe Times

This is a fascinating story told with wit, scholarship and the passion of a true conversationist. Lord Ridley writes in the best tradition of great British naturalists Country Life

Birds, Sex & Beauty is a good read. It is a compelling history of sexual selection, rather than a synthesis that moves the field forwardsNature

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