{"product_id":"taking-wing-archaeopteryx-and-the-evolution-of-bird-flight-9780684849652","title":"Taking Wing: Archaeopteryx and the Evolution of Bird Flight","description":"In 1861, just a few years after the publication of Charles Darwin's \u003ci\u003eOn the Origin of Species, \u003c\/i\u003e a scientist named Hermann von Meyer made an amazing discovery. Hidden in the Bavarian region of Germany was a fossil skeleton so exquisitely preserved that its wings and feathers were as obvious as its reptilian jaws and tail. This transitional creature offered tangible proof of Darwin's theory of evolution. \u003cbr\u003e Hailed as the First Bird, \u003ci\u003eArchaeopteryx\u003c\/i\u003e has remained the subject of heated debates for the last 140 years. Are birds actually living dinosaurs? Where does the fossil record really lead? Did flight originate from the \"ground up\" or \"trees down\"? Pat Shipman traces the age-old human desire to soar above the earth and to understand what has come before us. \u003ci\u003eTaking Wing\u003c\/i\u003e is science as adventure story, told with all the drama by which scientific understanding unfolds.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePat Shipman,  an anthropologist at Pennsylvania State University, is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Evolution of Racism\u003c\/i\u003e and, with Alan Walker, \u003ci\u003eThe Wisdom of the Bones.\u003c\/i\u003e She has written extensively on evolution and anthropology for such magazines as \u003ci\u003eDiscover, Natural History, New Scientist, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eFocus.\u003c\/i\u003e She lives in State College, Pennsylvani\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50327056646418,"sku":"9780684849652","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a1225161-5d6c-4c7b-be69-23b0d815c6db.jpg?v=1727709056","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/taking-wing-archaeopteryx-and-the-evolution-of-bird-flight-9780684849652","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}