Boom & Bust: Bird Stories for a Dry Country

Abstract

As the subtitle says, this is a book of bird stories. The overall theme examines the population dynamics and evolution of some Australian inland birds in 12 separate essays, each by a different author or group of authors. It is apparent that the dates of preparation of these chapters cover an extended time period, one prepared by an author who died in 2001, and there is little attempt to integrate the stories. Each of the essays is well referenced and written by a respected authority on the bird, birds or topic that are the subject of the essay. In this way the book is authoritative, but it is also innovative, because it is clear that peer review has not been applied, or if applied then applied gently, because the authors have been allowed to speculate on the interpretations of the data they present. Modern journal editors and peer reviewers do their best to eliminate such speculation and yet it is from the presentation of such untested ideas that inquiry begins and science advances. The editors are to be applauded for taking this approach.