Recommendable good reads for your non-birding time in Antigua Guatemala

Back in 2009 you may have heard in the news about an unusual theft of scientific bird specimens at the Natural History Museum in Tring. Kirk W. Johnson's entertaining "Feather Thief" tells us the background of this crime from the importance of scientific bird specimens, the excessive hunting of birds in the 19th century, to an obsessive art of fly-tying for fly-fishing.

Have you ever thought about how perfect a bird egg is? Tim Birkhead tells you how:

A nicely written biography of Alexander von Humboldt with his contributions to science and nature conservation:

Frank Schätzing's environmental thriller "The swarm" is a real page-turner. It is a novel, but packed with facts.

Some of the world's best coffees are produced in the surroundings of Antigua Guatemala. Regina Wagner compiled in this richly illustrated large volume how coffee developed to one of Guatemla's principal economic sectors.

Would you know off the top of your head how to measure the solar system with today's high-tech and ease of travel? Andrea Wulf tells the story how this task was done in the 18th century with low-tech under challenging travel conditions.