Katrina van Grouw, author of The Unfeathered Bird (Princeton), inhabits that no man's land midway between art and science. She holds degrees in fine art and natural history illustration and is a former curator of ornithological collections at a major national museum. She's a self-taught scientist with a passion for evolutionary biology and its history.
"It is the human-wrought marvel of selective breeding, applied to a
dizzying array of domestic fauna, that is at the heart of Katrina
van Grouw’s Unnatural Selection. This massive and breathtakingly
beautiful book uses artificial selection—the means by which
breeders promote desired traits, turning ‘tame populations into
more beautiful, more useful, more productive, more efficient, or
simply different versions’—to elucidate the processes of evolution
itself."---Julie Zickefoose, Wall Street Journal
"A brilliant concept that is quite stunning in its presentation and
execution. . . . Katrina’s writing is full of passion and
excitement for her subject. It is also intelligent, fluid, witty
and easily read & understood."---Phil Slade, Another Bird Blog
"[A] witty, exquisitely illustrated book."---Alison Abbott,
Nature
"Unnatural Selection feels like an homage to the standards of a
bygone publishing age, through its large-format pages and its use
of heavy sepia-coloured paper, but especially in van Grouw’s
lovingly detailed monochrome drawings."---Mark Cocker, The
Spectator
"Her drawings have to be seen to be believed. . . . Fabulous and
irresistible. Van Grouw is a genius. . . . With its immense
ambition and staggering graphics, this is a tricky book to
summarize – but its author’s extraordinary talent is one that
demands and deserves an audience."---Rob Innes, Cage & Aviary
Birds
"With its generous format and abundant illustrations, this book
might seem to be for leafing through, but you will inevitably find
yourself reading it. As appealing as they are instructive, the
pictures inexorably draw even the most casual of coffee table book
page flickers into the text. . . . Few are the books that can be
recommended with equal enthusiasm to birders, dog owners, biology
students, poultry breeders, and the merely (merely!) curious, but
Unnatural Selection is one of them. No matter what your interest,
this book, with its sophisticated but accessible text and its
captivating illustrations, will be one of the highlights of your
reading year."---Rick Wright, Vermilion Flycatcher
"I don’t think it would be an understatement to say that this is
the book I’ve been waiting for all my life. . . . The very fact it
can be understood by all is a real credit to the author who has
well and truly done her research."---Grant Brereton, Fancy Fowl
"Van Grouw’s beautiful anatomical illustrations are as informative
and scientifically rigorous as a statistical plot but also as
aesthetically pleasing as the pieces hanging in an art gallery. . .
. Van Grouw is perfectly placed to communicate in a way that is
conversational but also precise, confidently knowledgeable, and
often poetic. It seems too easy to make a comparison with Darwin,
yet it would be remiss not to."---Caitlin R. Kight, Trends in
Ecology & Evolution
"A hefty, gorgeous, yet serious, book . . . stuffed with Katrina’s
exquisitely observed pencil drawings. . . . A remarkable portrayal
of the wonder of artificial selection—an ancient process that’s
still going on today."---Ben Hoare, BBC Wildlife
"Whether you are an artist, illustrator, zoologist, pet-enthusiast
or simply curious, you will be intrigued, educated and inspired by
this extraordinary book."---Tim Birkhead, Archives of Natural
History
"You don’t need to be a scientist, veterinarian, scientific
illustrator or artist to fall deeply, madly in love with this
painstakingly accurate, stunning book."---Grrl Scientist,
Forbes
"Careful (or, perhaps, casual) selection and cross breeding has
produced chickens and pigeons of almost any shape and color. How
and why this happens, driven by our quest for novelty often
expressed in competition (the fair), is explained in text as
revealing as [van Grouw’s] drawings . . . . Her books are guides to
natural worlds otherwise unseen."---Jim Williams, StarTribune
Wingnut Blog
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