The Prize for Science Writing: Winner 2003

Judges report

The Flight of the Emu: A Hundred Years of Australian Ornithology 1901-2001
by Libby Robin (Melbourne University Press)

A history of the discipline of Australian ornithology, traced through the history of the Australian Ornithological Union, this book links different interests and perspectives in the watching of birds, the collecting of birds and eggs, and the intersection between scientists, naturalists and the keepers of birds as pets.

It is a detailed, scholarly and innovative approach to understanding Australian ornithology, through the politics and history of the interactions between amateur and professional devotees of birds.