This stunning book examines the development of ornithology from ancient times until the present day. There are chapters on ancient times, the middle ages, the renaissance, and each century from 17th until 20th. Each details the big names of the age, including the likes of the very famous Gilbert White, John James Audubon, Alfred Russell Wallace and Roger Tory Peterson, and many ornithologists reflected in bird species names - Pallas, Blyth, Steller, etc. On every page there are beautiful artworks of the birds painted by the ornithologists as well as many portraits of the people in question. At the end of the book, a 20-page timeline details every significant ornithological event during the past two millennia, making this book required reading for anyone interested in modern-day ornithology and its roots in the past.