The Last of Its Kind
The Search for the Great Auk and the Discovery of Extinction

This is a really good history of the Great Auk and its dwindling habitats before its extinction in 1865. In the preface Pálsson promises to investigate and discuss the wider concept of extinction also, which was what drew me to the book. However, I don’t think the balance is right, far too much on t......more

Though it was informative, the book was kind of a slog to get through because of how slow it felt at some points. I'm very glad to have learned what I did about auks, but I feel like there were easier ways of getting that information......more

I learned a new word from reading this book (oology, the collection/study of eggs), immediately thought that sounded like an interesting hobby, googled it, and found out it's literally illegal in the modern day specifically because what this book was talking about (and for good reason, obviously). I......more

It's pretty dry, a lot of facts about the British naturalists who investigated the extinction of the Great Auk. I was expecting more of a look at the cultural impacts of the discovery of extinction and how society reconciled this knew knowledge about such a powerful natural process. Imagine believin......more

Nice easy read. Very sad that they realised extinction was possible due to human actions, and that the great auk was headed for extinction soon. Unfortunately, they were mistaken and the bird had recently gone extinct - perhaps if they realised just five years earlier, we could still have them.......more