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The Ibis, Journal of the British Ornithologists' Union: a Pre-Synthesis Poredacted for Privacy Abstract Approved: Paul L AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Kristin Renee Johnson for the degree of Master of Science in History of Science, th presented on August 7 , 2000. Title: The Ibis, Journal of the British Ornithologists' Union: A Pre-Synthesis poRedacted for privacy Abstract approved: Paul L. Farber In 1959 the British Ornithological journal, The Ibis, published a centenary commemorative volume on the history of ornithology in Britain. Over the previous few decades, the contributors to this volume had helped focus the attention of ornithologists on the methods, priorities, and problems of modem biology, specifically the theory ofevolution by natural selection and the study ofecology and behaviour. Various new institutions like the Edward Grey Institute ofField Ornithology symbolized the increasing professionalization of both the discipline's institutional networks and publications, which the contents of The Ibis reflected in its increasing number ofcontributions from university educated ornithologists working on specific biological problems. In looking back on the history of their discipline, the contributors to this centenary described both nineteenth century ornithology and the continued dominance oftraditional work in the pages of The Ibis in distinctive ways. They characterized them as oriented around specimens, collections, the seemingly endless gathering of facts, without reference to theoretical problems. The centenary contributors then juxtaposed this portrait in opposition to the contents ofa modem volume, with its use of statistics, graphs, and tables, and the focus ofornithologists on both natural selection and the living bird in its natural environment. This thesis returns to the contents ofthe pre-1940s volumes of The Ibis in order to examine the context and intent ofthose ornithologists characterized as "hide-bound" by the centenary contributors. In doing so it focuses on the methodological shifts inherent in ornithological work whose value to ornithologists changed over time, the importance of transitions in authority in changing the dominant research program of ornithology, and the contested nature of new methods and priorities that "revolutionized" the field. In comparing the contents of The Ibis to the historical narratives of the centenary contributors, this thesis contributes to the historical analysis of factors involved in disciplinary change, the impact of changing philosophies of science upon research programs, and the development of modem biology's priorities and methods. The Ibis, Journal of the British Ornithologists' Union: A Pre-Synthesis Portrait by Kristin Renee Johnson A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science August 7ili 2000 Commencement June 2001 th Master of Science thesis ofKristin Renee Johnson presented on August 7 , 2000. APPROVED: Redacted for privacy M~or Professor, representing History of Science Redacted for privacy Redacted for privacy D I understand that my thesis will become part of the pennanent collection of Oregon State University libraries. My signature below authorizes release of my thesis to any reader upon request. Redacted for privacy Kristin Renee Johnson: Author Acknowledgements During the time spent writing this thesis I have come across friends who have made my experience in graduate school a treasured gift. Paul Farber has been so encouraging and helpful that I many times I wish I could have cloned him and sent copies off to friends at other graduate schools. His friendship, guidance and support have meant a great deal, as have the continuous kindness of Mary Jo and Bob Nye. Ron Doel always offered a smile and an open door, and Andy Brower both extended encouragement and shared his knowledge of entomology and systematics. Daniel Alexandrov helped to refine my thesis proposal and talked with me about insects and subspecies concepts. Michael Oriard kindly accepted a last-minute position as a graduate representative. Mark Largent and Erik Ellis read drafts of my thesis, providing helpful and thorough comments. Paul Salaman provided the insights of an ornithologist. In England Max Nicholson, Linda Birch, Andy Gossler, and Robert Prys-Jones provided both encouragement and advice during time spent there prior to beginning my thesis, for which I am very grateful. Ginny Domka and Marilyn Bethman have always provided entertaining conversation and laughter that is more helpful to the graduate students than they perhaps know! The support and love of my mother and father, Donna and Larry Johnson, simply cannot be described in words, but I know they understand how grateful I am to them. My sister Shannon joined me for fun conversation and coffee during my trips home to Seattle and my sister Tamra always provides a cheerful smile and sympathy for any trouble or joy. Brian Sheike, Barb Arnold, Chris Jolly, Erik Ellis, Kevin Stoller and Katie Hubler have provided support, encouragement, advice, and friendship, for which I am extremely grateful - particularly to those who put up with my defense in basketball with such grace and tact. Table of Contents Introduction 1 Chapter 1: A 1959 Evaluation of the History of The Ibis 17 What It Means to Be "Hide-Bound" 18 Defining "Scientific Ornithology" 20 Scientific Ornithology as Biological Context 25 The Value of Geographical Ornithology 28 Portraying the Change 31 Conclusion 37 Chapter 2: After All, For What Are We Ornithologists Striving? 41 Controversies Over Content 42 The Proper Sphere of Zoological Journals 47 Speculative Entomologists 52 Conclusion 60 Chapter 3: Geographical Ornithology: Redefining Facts 64 Geographical Ornithology 65 Geographical Distribution and Evolution Theory 71 Subspecies and Trinomials 73 Subspecies as a Research Program 81 Changing Priorities in Geographical Data 83 Conclusion 89 Chapter 4: The Ibis Ornithologists and the Mechanism of Evolution 93 Notices ofEvolution: Book Reviews 96 Table of Contents, continued Mentioning Mechanism 100 The Methodological Context ofMechanism 109 A Controversy Over Defining Facts 114 Conclusion 122 Chapter 5: The Living Bird in Its Natural Environment 126 Ecological Geography 127 "Discriminative Collection" of Specimens and Data 136 Census Ecology 141 The New Methods Contested 146 Explanation and Amateurs 159 Defending Speculation 161 Conclusion 163 Conclusion 168 Bibliography 175 The Ibis, Journal of the British Ornithologists' Union: A Pre-Synthesis Portrait Introduction A group of friends, mostly wealthy collectors of bird specimens, founded the British Ornithologists' Union (B.O.D.) in 1858 with the primary intent of starting an ornithological journal. Their action was indicative ofthe trends toward specialization in natural history that coincided with an influx ofthousands ofnew animal and plant forms into the ports ofBritain, whether as specimens for collections or as live animals for zoological gardens. The description and classification ofthese forms became the province ofa coterie ofnatural history journals, beginning with the Transactions ofthe Linnean Society ofLondon founded in 1791.1 B.O.D. founding member Philip Lutley Sclater emphasized that the ornithologists' action in establishing their own journal was not prompted by any jealousy ofexisting periodicals. Rather they believed that the number of persons principally interested in their branch ofzoology justified an experiment that had recently succeeded so well in Germany, 1 On specialization in natural history and associated institutional developments during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, see; David Allen, The Naturalist in Britain: a Social History, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994); Adrian Desmond, "The Making ofInstitutional Zoology in London 1822-1836," History ofScience, 23(1985):153-185 and 223-250; Paul Lawrence Farber, "The Development of Taxidermy and the History ofOrnithology," ISIS, 68(1977): 350-566, "The Development of Ornithological Collections in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries and their Relationship to the Emergence ofOrnithology as a Scientific Discipline," Journal ofthe Society for the Bibliography of Natural History, 9(1980): 391-394, Discovering Birds: The Emergence ofOrnithology as a Scientific Discipline: 1760-1850, (Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press, 1996), and Finding Order in Nature: The Naturalist Traditionfrom Linnaeus to E.o. Wilson, (Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press, 2000). The compilation volume edited by Nicholas Jardine, James A. Secord, and E.C. Spary, Cultures ofNatural History, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996) also contains relevant papers. For the effect of specialization on natural history periodicals, see David Allen, "The Struggle for Specialist Journals: Natural History in the British Periodicals Market in the First Half ofthe Nineteenth Century," Archives ofNatural History, 23(1996): 107-123. -----------------------------------------.-­ -- 2 where ornithologists had founded a journal in 1853.1 The first volume of the B.o.u.'s journal, The Ibis, appeared in 1859. Although papers on birds were of course published in other zoological journals, particularly the Proceedings ofthe Zoological Society ofLondon, The Ibis remained the only strictly ornithological journal in Britain until 1907 when a group of ornithologists founded British Birds. By the 1950s, other British ornithological journals had appeared, including Bird Study, but The Ibis remained the "universally acclaimed ... premier pUblication for the science.,,3 Meanwhile, specialist
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