Book ID: CBB168945559

For the Birds: American Ornithologist Margaret Morse Nice (2018)

unapi

Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey (Author)


University of Oklahoma Press


Publication Date: 2018
Physical Details: 320
Language: English

A first-rate ornithologist, Margaret Morse Nice (1883–1974) pioneered field studies on song sparrows and advocated for women’s active role in the sciences. Yet her nontraditional path toward scientific progress, as well as her gender, meant that she had to reach the highest pinnacles of achievement in order to gain prominence in her chosen field. Luckily for Nice, she was more than up to the challenge. In this engaging first book-length biography, Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie sheds light on Nice’s intellectual journey. The wife of an academic, Nice pursued her own scholarly interests through self-study and by cultivating and creating work partnerships with colleagues. Talented, ambitious, and creative, she did not define herself solely through her role as wife and mother, nor did her family responsibilities deter her from her professional achievements. From her undergraduate study at Mount Holyoke College to her fieldwork in Norman, Oklahoma, her coauthorship of Birds of Oklahoma and subsequent correspondence with George Sutton to her later years in Columbus, Ohio, Nice’s career grew in tandem with her personal life—and in some cases, because of it. Although bridled by social constraints, her work spoke for itself: she produced more than 244 papers, articles, and published letters; seven books and book-length monographs; and 3,000 reviews. This voluminous and field-defining output earned her the respect of some of the most important biological scientists of the day, among them Konrad Lorenz and Ernst Mayr, who declared that she had “almost singlehandedly” initiated “a new era in American ornithology.”For the Birds gives Nice her due recognition, lending compelling insight into her activism promoting conservation and preservation, her field methods, and the role of women in the history of science, particularly in ornithology. Nice’s life acts as a looking glass into the various challenges faced by fellow female pioneers, their resolve, and their contributions.

...More
Reviewed By

Review Mark V. Barrow (2019) Review of "For the Birds: American Ornithologist Margaret Morse Nice". Journal of the History of Biology (pp. 489-490). unapi

Review Saurabh Mishra (2020) Review of "For the Birds: American Ornithologist Margaret Morse Nice". Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (pp. 895-896). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB168945559/

Similar Citations

Article P. B. Logan; M. A. Sidor; (2021)
John James Audubon’s Prospectus for The Birds of America (/isis/citation/CBB010562786/)

Book Carlson, Douglas; (2007)
Roger Tory Peterson: A Biography (/isis/citation/CBB000830484/)

Chapter Cain, Joe; (2009)
Ernst Mayr and the “Biology of Birds” (/isis/citation/CBB001022522/)

Book Henderson, Carrol L.; (2007)
Oology and Ralph's Talking Eggs: Bird Conservation Comes out of Its Shell (/isis/citation/CBB000850690/)

Thesis Whitney, Kristoffer Jon; (2012)
A Knot in Common: Science, Values, and Conservation in the Atlantic Flyway (/isis/citation/CBB001560601/)

Article Christine E. Jackson; (2018)
Henry Ward and John James Audubon, 1831–1837 (/isis/citation/CBB729690478/)

Article Lawrence, Natalie; (2014)
Plumed Wonders and Ornithological Passions (/isis/citation/CBB001421082/)

Book Birkhead, T R; Wimpenny, Jo; Montgomerie, Robert D; (2014)
Ten Thousand Birds: Ornithology since Darwin (/isis/citation/CBB001421573/)

Book Thomas R. Dunlap; (2011)
In the Field, Among the Feathered: A History of Birders and Their Guides (/isis/citation/CBB295125279/)

Article Winearls, Joan; (2008)
The Travails of an Early-Twentieth-Century Wildlife Illustrator in North America (/isis/citation/CBB001211518/)

Article Seitz, J.; (2007)
Three Hundred Years of House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) Persecution in Germany (/isis/citation/CBB000774087/)

Article Soll, David; (2012)
Resurrecting the Story of the Passenger Pigeon in Pennsylvania (/isis/citation/CBB001200338/)

Article Dolly Jørgensen; Isla Gladstone; (2022)
The Passenger Pigeon’s Past on Display for the Future (/isis/citation/CBB029545778/)

Book Jeff Karnicky; (2016)
Scarlet Experiment: Birds and Humans in America (/isis/citation/CBB488937827/)

Chapter Greenwood, Jeremy J. D.; (2005)
Science with a Team of Thousands: The British Trust for Ornithology (/isis/citation/CBB001022858/)

Article Colin Miskelly; (2000)
Historical Records of Snipe from Campbell Island, New Zealand (/isis/citation/CBB766635210/)

Authors & Contributors
Culver, Annika A.
Martin A. Sidor
Robert P. Prŷs-Jones
Peter B. Logan
Colin Miskelly
Isla Gladstone
Concepts
Birds
Ornithology
Extinction (biology)
Conservation biology
Zoology
Natural history
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
21st century
20th century, late
20th century, early
18th century
Places
United States
South Asia
London (England)
Colombia
North America
New Zealand
Institutions
British Trust for Ornithology
Natural History Museum (London, England)
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment