Taking Flight: The Evolutionary Story of Life on the Wing

"This was another one that caught the attention of all the judges. It’s a book about the evolution of flying. From a scientific point of view, it’s a really interesting topic and the author communicates it in a very educational, but also an entertaining and engaging manner. Each chapter focuses on a different type of bird or flying mammal. For example, there’s one chapter on bats and another on hummingbirds. One interesting thing that I learned about the hummingbird that I didn’t know before, is that it has a hippocampus—the part of the brain that is involved in our ability to store memories—and uses it to remember the flowers with the best pollen. They fly around to the different flowers and memorize which ones are good and which ones less so. The book reminds you that we’re not the only ones here on the planet. There are other animals and creatures out there that are living their lives. As a result of reading this book, I’m more aware of, and will take more time to appreciate, all the flying birds, insects and creatures around us. And for anyone who wants to learn a bit more about all these different birds and creatures, this book will present it to you in a very clear, scientific manner, which is very important. The author also adds in lots of bits of humor throughout, which makes it an easy read, because if it were just a completely scientific read about the evolution of flying that could be quite difficult to get through. But this book really is a page-turner, actually."