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Erwin Stresemann &Lpar Reviews EDITED BY REBECCA HOLBERTON Thefollowing critiques express the opinions of theindividual evaluators regarding the strengths, weaknesses,and value of thebooks they review. As such,the appraisals are subjective assessments and do not necessarilyreflect the opinions of the editorsor any officialpolicy of theAmerican Ornithologists'Union. The Auk 118(3):805-806, 2001 Erwin Stresemann (1889-1972).--Leben und win Stresemannand enablesavian biologistsand sci- Werk eines Pioniers der wissenschaftlichen Orni- ence historians to learn just about everything about thologie--Jtirgen Haffer, Erich Rutschkeand Klaus this remarkable ornithologist.Haffer, Rutschke,and Wunderlich. 2000. Acta Historica Leopoldina,Num- Wunderlich provide a detailed history of Strese- ber 34. Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leo- mann'slife and careerin three chapters:his personal poldina e.V.,Postfach 110543, D 06019Halle (Salle), life (K. Wunderlich), his personality and its influ- Germany.465 pp., 74 illustrations.ISBN 3-8304-5091- ences (E. Rutschke), and his scientific work (J. Haf- 5. Paper, 68 DM. (Note: This book can be obtained fer). Haffer has added a detailed 29-page summary online through Barnes& Noble, [www.bn. com], and in English to a seriesof appendices.Because of the then scrollingdown the left margin to click on their untimely deathsof KlausWunderlich (18 April 1997) Europeanpartner, [bol.com],click on Germany and and Erich Rutschke(12 February 1999), JtirgenHal- finally entering the ISBN number and search.)Erwin fer had the responsibility of seeing the manuscript Stresemannwas clearly the most influential orni- through the publicationprocess. thologist of the twentieth century,being primarily This work is well illustrated with photographsand responsiblefor the rise of the New Arian Biologybe- line drawings, all of which have an English as well ginningin the 1920s.The first InternationalOrnitho- as Gertnan legend. An appendix with 14 separate logical Congress(Vienna, 1884) convenedjust five parts includesmany details suchas a list of avian years before his birth on 22 November 1889. And, taxa described by Stresemann (pp. 375-385); taxa having died two daysbefore his 83rd birthday on 20 named in Stresemann'shonor (pp. 387-390); refer- November 1972, just two years after the 14th Con- ences to published biographies of Stresemann (p. gress,Stresemann is a distant historicalfigure. Most 391); honors (pp. 393-394); festschrifts,obituaries, present-dayornithologists are largelyunaware of his and appreciations(pp. 395-397);a time table of his significantcontributions to ornithology over three- life (pp. 441-442);several unpublished manuscripts; quarters of a century ago, before most of us were and the excellent29-page English summaryby Haf- born. Only three of his pre-World War II students fer. A list of illustrationsand severalindices are pro- (Wilhelm Meise, Ernst Mayr, and JoachimSteinbach- vided. Very useful are the birth and death dates giv- er) are still alive. Even the number of ornithologists en for many workers in the Index of Persons who actually met Stresemannis decreasingrapidly. (however,my birth date is given as 1939rather than His last visit to North America was in 1962 and his the correct 1933). last International Ornithological Congress was in This book is an excellentand thorough treatment 1966 (Oxford). When Stresemannfirst began his of the scientificcareer of this most important orni- studies, ornithological research (mainly systematic thologistof the twentiethcentury. In the two decades and faunistics)was drastically different from the di- before World War II, Stresemann was at the center of versity of avianbiological work doneduring the past internationalornithology with closeconnections to half century.That changein the directionof ornitho- all of the world's important ornithologists.During logical researchwas the direct consequenceof ideas that time, he revitalized the systematicwork in the developedby the young Stresemannduring his stu- Berlin Museum; wrote the Aves volume of the Hand- dent days in the 1910sand incorporatedinto his ma- buchder Zoologie;directed the work of a remarkable jor work--the Aves volume of the Handbuchder group of graduatestudents in ornithology;was, for Zoologie. 50 years, the central figure in the DeutschenOrni- The publicationof that excellentbook provides a thologen-Gesellschaft;and, most importantly, was detailed history on the life and scientificwork of Er- the catalystin the developmentof the New Avian Bi- 8O5 806 Reviews [Auk, Vol. 118 ology beginning in the early 1920s(the "pioneer of Another of Stresemann'simportant contributions scientificornithology" of the title). If Stresemanndid in 1939 was part of his The Birdsof Celebesin which not accomplishanything else during his long career, he advocatedhis ideas of a "dynamic zoogeogra- his actionin pushingdevelopment of the New Avian phy" (pp. 213-219; 414-416). That was in reactionto Biologyis sufficientto insurehis positionas having excessiveland-bridge building by the biogeogra- the most profound influence on twentieth-century phersof the time and which was basedon changes world ornithology.Most interestingis that Strese- in the habitats over time and the differential dis- mann stayed strictly within ornithologyduring his persal abilitiesof different species.Although a few entire scientific career; he did not branch out into personsacknowledge credit to Stresemannfor these generalzoological or theoreticalbiological topics. ideas(e.g.E. Mayr, 1944,The Birds of Timorand Sum- The three authors have done an excellentjob in ba, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural His- presentingthe life and work of Erwin Stresemann, tory, 83:123-194),his conceptof dynamiczoogeog- with each of the major chaptersfull of interesting raphy is still insufficientlyunknown and deservesa facts and analyses, and extensive documentation. full analyticreview. This history is best read in conjunctionwith Haffer's The leading German Academy of Science,the Leo- 1997Ornithologen-Briefe des 20 Jahrhunderts(see, W. J. poldina, publishedthis book by Haffer and his col- Bock,1999, Auk, 116:861-863).Because those chap- leagueson the life and work of Erwin Stresemann, ters were written at different times and indepen- the leadingGerman ornithologist; hence the bulk of dently of one another,there is someduplication of the publicationis in German. That is unfortunatebe- material but that does not distract from the book. causemost of the world's ornithologistswill not be One of the little-known aspectsof Stresemann'slife able to appreciatein depth the importanceof Stre- was that, in 1934, he was offered a researchprofes- semannto the developmentof ornithologyduring sorshipat YaleUniversity through the effortsof Dr. the first half of the twentiethcentury, in spiteof the LeonardSanford, with the possibilityof headingup excellentEnglish summary by Jtirgen Haffer (pp. the PeabodyMuseum (pp. 42, 144). Stresemannvis- 399-427). It would be a great benefit to most orni- ited Yale during his trip to the United Statesfrom thologistsif someonewould undertakethe greattask November 1935 to March 1936, but, feeling himself of translatingthis volume into English and repub- bound to Berlin and Germany,he declined the offer. lishingit, perhapsas a CD-ROM. There is little discussionof Stresemann'sother trips In summary, this authoritative history of the life and work of Erwin Stresemann is essential to all or- to North America: in 1958 he addressed the Ameri- nithologistsand sciencehistorians with the slightest can Ornithologists'Union on the statusof avian sys- interestin the historyof ornithology.Jtirgen Haffer, tematics(1959d) at its 75th anniversarymeeting in Erich Rutschke and Klaus Wunderlich are to be con- New York City, and in 1962 he attended the Inter- gratulatedfor their excellentand thoroughpresen- national Ornithological Congressin Ithaca, New tation;all ornithologistsand historiansof scienceare York to speakon the taxonomicvalue of wing molt. in their debt. The cost of this book is most reasonable During both trips, Erwin and his wife, VestaStrese- comparedto its contents,and I urge anyoneinter- mann, studied the molt of birds at the American Mu- ested in the history of ornithology to obtain this seumof Natural History (E. and V. Stresemann,1966). valuable addition to our science.--WALTERJ. BOCK, It was during thosevisits that most North American Departmentof BiologicalSciences, Columbia University, ornithologistswould have met Stresemann. 1200 Amsterdam Avenue,Mail Box 5521, New York, New Stresemann'sbest known publicationsare his Aves York, 10027-7004 USA. E-mail: [email protected] volumein the Handbuchder Zoologie 1927-1934 (only 536 were soldby 1934 and an additional 156by 1944, a total of only 692 of the original 2,200printed; the remaining two-thirds were tragically destroyedby fire toward the end of World War II, see.p. 248), and his Ornithology:From Aristotle to the Present(1975; original German edition, 1951). Both were discussed by Haffer (pp. 248-250, and 297-302). The Avesvol- TheAuk 118(3):806-808, 2001 ume was analyzedin connectionwith a long section on the developmentof the New Avian Biology(pp. Ecology and Conservation of Grassland Birds of 248-295). Haffer pointsout that Stresemann'shistory the Western Hemisphere--Edited by PeterD. Vick- of ornithologywas written during the difficultyears ery and JamesR. Herkert. 1999. Proceedingsof a followingWorld War II when his accessto the liter- Conference, Tulsa, Oklahoma, October 1995. Studies ature was restricted. That historical work concen- in Avian Biology No. 19. Cooper OrnithologicalSo- trated on avian systematicsand on Europeanwork- ciety,Camarillo, California.vii + 299 pp., numerous ers; hence there is still a great need for a thorough figures. ISBN 1-891276-08-5.Paper, $25.00;ISBN 1- treatmentof the historyof worldwideornithology. 891276-11-5.Cloth, $39.50.--Within the past 10-15 .
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