Raghavendra Gadagkar
Centre for Ecological Sciences & Centre for
Contemporary Studies
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012
President, Indian National Science Academy,
New Delhi 110 002
Abstract
A Most Perfect Thing is an inspiring mixture of science, history and adventure. The author, Tim Birkhead is a Professor of Zoology in the University of Sheffield in the UK, best known for his research on sperm competition and sexual selection in Birds. His previous book that I have read (he has written a dozen) Bird Sense: What It’s Like to Be a Bird had already introduced me to his remarkable ability to combine information and inspiration. The present book carries on in that tradition and while it is on a more narrow topic (just the eggs of birds as opposed to everything about birds), it brings together more history and context – context in which science is practised and knowledge is produced.
