Flight Paths: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration

“Illuminating. . . . Flight Paths does what only the best science books do: It adds to our knowledge of the world without diminishing its wonder.”—Wall Street Journal

The captivating, little-known true story of a group of scientists and the methods and technology they developed to uncover the secrets of avian migration.

For the past century, in a compelling chapter of the history of science, scientists and naturalists have been steadily unravelling the secrets of bird migration. How and why birds navigate the skies, traveling from continent to continent—flying thousands of miles across the earth each fall and spring—has continually fascinated the human imagination, but only recently have we been able to fully understand these amazing journeys. Although we know much more than ever before, even the most enthusiastic birdwatcher may not know how we got here, the ways that the full breadth of scientific disciplines have come together to reveal these annual avian travels.

Flight Paths is the never-before-told story of how a group of migration-obsessed scientists in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries engaged nearly every branch of science, including ornithology, to understand bird migration—from where and when they take off to their flight paths and behaviors, their destinations and the challenges they encounter getting there. Uniting curious minds from across generations, continents, and disciplines, bird enthusiast and science writer Rebecca Heisman traces the development of each technique used for tracking migratory birds, from the first attempts to mark individual birds to the cutting-edge technology that lets ornithologists trace where a bird has been, based on unique DNA markers. Along the way, she touches on the biggest technological breakthroughs of modern science and reveals the almost-forgotten stories of the scientists who harnessed these inventions in service of furthering our understanding of natural history (and their personal obsession with birds).

The compelling and fascinating story of how scientists solved the great mystery of bird migration, Flight Paths is an unprecedented look into exciting, behind-the-scenes moments of groundbreaking discovery. Heisman demonstrates that the real power of science happens when people work together, focusing their minds and knowledge on a common goal. While the world looks to tackle massive challenges in environmental science, conservation, and climate, the story of migration research offers a beacon of hope that we can find solutions to difficult and complex problems.

How did humanity finally piece together the puzzle of these incredible journeys?

• A History of Scientific Discovery: Trace the evolution of migration research from simple bird banding to cutting-edge DNA markers and satellite tracking.
• The Secrets of Avian Migration: Uncover the incredible science behind how birds navigate thousands of miles, facing immense challenges on their continent-spanning journeys.
• For the Love of Birdwatching: Meet the cast of migration-obsessed scientists whose personal passion fueled some of the twentieth century’s most important natural discoveries.
• A Beacon of Hope for Conservation: Learn how the collaborative spirit of migration research offers a hopeful model for tackling today’s complex environmental problems.