DOS November Meeting: “Birds Up Close – Fantastic Feathers, Form and Function” by Professor Lorna Gison, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
November 18 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EST
Summary: Lorna Gibson’s new book, Birds Up Close: An Engineer Explores Their Hidden Wonders, draws on her experience as a professor of engineering at MIT and as a lifelong birder, to describe how birds work from an engineering perspective. Feathers, bones, bills, eggs, flight: all come in for scrutiny, sometimes at the microscopic scale, sometimes at a more macroscopic scale. In this talk, Lorna will share highlights from the book on how the microscopic structure of feathers gives rise to their remarkable properties.
For instance, feathers give birds their color, from the bright red of a male Cardinal to the iridescent reds and greens of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Feathers keep birds warm and dry: down provides excellent insulation against heat loss, and water really does roll off a duck’s back. Feathers form the aerodynamic shape of the wing, enabling flight. A Barn Owl’s flight feathers suppress sound, allowing it to fly nearly silently, while its ruff feathers reflect and focus sound into its ears, enabling the owl to hunt in total darkness by sound alone.
Dr. Lorna Gibson is the Matoula S Salapatas Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT and a MacVicar Faculty Fellow, MIT’s top award for undergraduate teaching. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Audubon Society. She has always loved nature and getting outside to walk, bicycle and bird.
The meeting is held IN PERSON ONLY at Delaware Museum of Nature and Science. The in person meeting is open to everyone and admission is free. The presentation will involve looking at actual museum specimens of the birds discussed, so cannot be live streamed. Please come out and enjoy this unique hands on experience.