Why the origin of flightisrocket science

Abstract

Dinosaurs of the Air: The Evolution and Loss of Flight in Dinosaurs and Birds. Gregory S. Paul. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London. 2002. i–xii + 460 pages ISBN 0-8018-6763-0. Cloth $49.95. Reconstructing the origin of birds and the origin of their flight is anything but a simple problem. In fact, this issue, often treated as a single problem, comprises many problems that, although logically independent and approached with different methods, are involved with each other simply because they are part of a single historic evolutionary radiation. So, whereas the origin of birds—that is, their relationships to other animals—is a phylogenetic question, and the origin of their flight is a question rooted in structure, function, and aerodynamics, the two are related because they should be consistent with each other if their answers explain the same single evolutionary history. When questions of physiology, locomotion, ecology, environment, diet, developmental biology, and flight performance are added to the mix, the whole issue becomes very knotty indeed. The complexity of the issue partly explains the diversity of viewpoints among perfectly competent scientists. It is difficult to have expertise on everything from Mesozoic reptile anatomy to experimental and theoretical aerodynamics. Sometimes, people who are knowledgeable about one of the aspects mentioned above feel that they have the key to the entire issue, and are disappointed when they are rebuffed by other scientists who say that things are not so simple or reducible. Indeed, one reason why this issue commands so much interest is that it touches so many fields of science and engineering. With nearly annual regularity I receive for review yet another manuscript by (usually) a team of scientists or engineers who have never seen Archaeopteryx or studied paleontology but are sure that they have solved the problem of bird flight, or bird …