Scarlet Experiment: Birds And Humans In America
by Jeff Karnicky /
2016 / English / EPUB
613.2 KB Download
Emily Dickinson’s poem “Split the Lark” refers to the “scarlet
experiment” by which scientists destroy a bird in order to learn
more about it. Indeed, humans have killed hundreds of millions of
birds—for science, fashion, curiosity, and myriad other reasons.
In the United States alone, seven species of birds are now
extinct and another ninety-three are endangered. Conversely, the
U.S. conservation movement has made bird-watching more popular
than ever, saving countless bird populations; and while the
history of actual physical human interaction with birds is
complicated, our long aesthetic and scientific interest in them
is undeniable. Since the beginning of the modern conservation
movement in the mid-nineteenth century, human understanding of
and interaction with birds has changed profoundly. In
Emily Dickinson’s poem “Split the Lark” refers to the “scarlet
experiment” by which scientists destroy a bird in order to learn
more about it. Indeed, humans have killed hundreds of millions of
birds—for science, fashion, curiosity, and myriad other reasons.
In the United States alone, seven species of birds are now
extinct and another ninety-three are endangered. Conversely, the
U.S. conservation movement has made bird-watching more popular
than ever, saving countless bird populations; and while the
history of actual physical human interaction with birds is
complicated, our long aesthetic and scientific interest in them
is undeniable. Since the beginning of the modern conservation
movement in the mid-nineteenth century, human understanding of
and interaction with birds has changed profoundly. InScarlet
Experiment
Scarlet
Experiment, Jeff Karnicky traces the ways in which birds have
historically been seen as beautiful creatures worthy of
protection and study and yet subject to experiments—scientific,
literary, and governmental—that have irrevocably altered their
relationship with humans.
, Jeff Karnicky traces the ways in which birds have
historically been seen as beautiful creatures worthy of
protection and study and yet subject to experiments—scientific,
literary, and governmental—that have irrevocably altered their
relationship with humans.
This examination of the management of bird life in America from
the nineteenth century to today, which focuses on six bird
species, finds that renderings of birds by such authors as Henry
David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson, Don DeLillo, and Christopher
Cokinos, have also influenced public perceptions and actions.
This examination of the management of bird life in America from
the nineteenth century to today, which focuses on six bird
species, finds that renderings of birds by such authors as Henry
David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson, Don DeLillo, and Christopher
Cokinos, have also influenced public perceptions and actions.Scarlet Experiment
Scarlet Experimentspeculates about the effects our
decisions will have on the future of North American bird
ecology.
speculates about the effects our
decisions will have on the future of North American bird
ecology.