FYI - I think there was a 1950 paper too, though I cannot remember. . .When everyone is ready, it is high time that we replicate Lowery and Newman (1966). With today's technology for synthesizing information, we could do it in a much more timely and large scale manner, AND we could combine it with FC and radar data in a way not possible in the 60s. . .
Best, Andrew On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 07:20, Ted Floyd <tfl...@aba.org> wrote: > Hi, all. > > I was recently contacted by somebody who's preparing an obituary for > William A. Rense, a leading solar physicist of the 20th century. Here's > one of his publications: > > Rense, W.A. 1946. Astronomy and ornithology. Popular Astronomy > 54(2):55-73. > > The article presents all the calculations necessary for "moonwatching," > that is, for determining the number of birds on nocturnal migration > within a given volume of sky. And, interestingly, this article precedes > by several month's George Lowery's famous 1946 paper on the same topic > (Auk 63:175-211). Lowery and Rense were colleagues, actually, so this > isn't a disputed-priority thing. But it's interesting how we remember > the famous Lowery paper, not the original Rense article. (Even though > Rense's appeared in a relatively high-profile venue. Auk... Popular > Astronomy... Please.) In a sense, this is also a tribute to Lowery's > commendable interdisciplinary outlook on science and nature. > > What's also cool about the Rense article is that it reminds us that all > of this had basically been worked out 40+ years earlier, during a > brief--and virtually completely forgotten--"golden age" of research on > nocturnal migration. Moonwatching techniques are well described in > papers published in 1902 (Bull. Wisc. Nat. Hist. Soc.), 1906 (Popular > Astronomy), and again in 1906 (Auk). > > (During that brief period of serious professional interest in the topic, > there is an intriguing paper--by one Henry H. Kopman--on, among other > things, the flight calls of wood-warblers. Farnsworth in a previous > life...) > > Anyhow, I thought some folks would be interested. I'll let y'all know > when the Rense obit. is published. > > Best, > Ted > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > Ted Floyd > Editor, Birding > > ------------------------------- > > Please support the American Birding Association: Click on > http://www.goodsearch.com/?charityid=884482 to search the internet. > > Check out the American Birding Association on FaceBook: > http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22934255714 > > Check out the American Birding Association on Twitter: > http://twitter.com/abaoutreach > > Please visit the website of the American Birding Association: > http://www.aba.org > > -- > NFC-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES > -- > -- NFC-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html --
