There has often been discussion of different approaches to birding; some
scientific, some not. I just read something eloquently written about the
scientific approach that I thought I'd share.

This is from a really wonderful book, especially if you're interested in
marine ecosystems and conservation: Song for the Blue Ocean, by Carl
Safina, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1997. The author is knowledgable
about birds, and birds are mentioned here and there, but the book is mostly
about fish and fisheries.

p. 361: "Science, like love, can be blind, inspired, glorious, or brutal.
The piercing ability to perceive order within apparent chaos is, to me, the
great, elegant power of science. Not to impose order, but to perceive it.
To begin in confusion and by endeavor to gain a sense of how the world
works. To turn the seamless picture into a jigsaw puzzle, and by seeing
and understanding how each pixel fits, to stand back again and gain a much
deeper appreciation of the magnificent beauty of the unified whole. And to
wonder how it is that part of the universe--ourselves--can delve into the
rest of it. The most incomprehensible thing about nature, Albert Einstein
said, is that it is comprehensible.
"An observant person sees things overlooked by others. A scientist
sees things going on and then asks how these goings-on array themselves
into patterns, patterns that are reliable and predictable. A really good
scientist--or a really good artist for that matter, anyone whose mind and
soul are capable of some extension--sees what is going on, sees the
patterns, and asks, "Why?" What underlying forces are at work? How are
these forces exerting themselves? How may we understand? Once pried from
the universe by a great mind or a discerning heart, the hard-won
understanding may then be conveyed and conferred upon humanity at large. A
painting is nothing more than light reflected from the surface of a
pigment-covered canvas. But a great painter can make you see the depth,
make you feel the underlying emotion, make you sense the larger world.
That, too, is the power of science: to sense and convey the depth and
dimensionality of nature, to glance at the surface and to divine the shape
of the universe around us. It operates on many scales.
"Fish scales for instance." The author goes on to talk about the
mass spawning of groupers and other reef fishes and how scientists are
trying to understand the phenomenon before fisheries have completely wiped
out the fish involved. If you want the rest of the story, read the
book.....

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 253-879-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 253-879-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416
http://www.ups.edu/biology/museum/museum.html