'Birkhead has combined ingenuity and perseverance to produce an evocative portrait of a great pioneer in the scientific study of birds' Literary Review Francis Willughby lived and thrived in the midst of the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. Along with his Cambridge tutor John Ray, Willughby was determined to overhaul the whole of natural history and impose order on its complexity. It was exhilarating, exacting and exhausting work. Yet before Willughby and Ray could complete their monumental encyclopaedia of birds, Ornithology , Willughby died. In the centuries since, Ray's reputation has grown, obscuring that of his collaborator. Now, for the first time, Willughby's own story and genius are given the attention they deserve. Tim Birkhead celebrates how Willughby's endeavours set a standard for the way birds and natural history should be studied. Rich with glorious detail, The Wonderful Mr Willughby is a fascinating insight into a thrilling period of scientific history and a lively biography of a man who lived at its heart.

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Tim Birkhead FRS is an author and biologist, emeritus Professor of Behaviour and Evolution at the University of Sheffield, one of Britain's foremost ornithologists, and a leading light in popular science communication. His professional interests span ornithology, evolution and reproductive biology, as well as the history of science. He is known for his work on both the mating systems of birds and the history of ornithology. He has also led one of the world's best-known long-term research projects, studying the biology and population dynamics of Britain's auks and other seabirds.

Elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2004, Tim's awards include the Elliot Coues Medal for outstanding contributions to ornithological research, the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour medal, the BOU's Godman-Salvin Medal, for distinguished ornithological work, the Zoological Society of London's Silver Medal, and the Stephen Jay Gould Prize.

Tim has written or edited 15 books, including four popular science titles published by Bloomsbury The Wisdom of Birds (2008), Bird Sense (2012), The Most Perfect Thing (2017) and The Wonderful Mr Willughby (Bloomsbury 2018), with his latest work devoted to the life and afterlife of a true icon of extinction, The Great Auk (2024).