Product Description

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

On a desert island in the heart of the Galapagos archipelago, where Darwin received his first inklings of the theory of evolution, two scientists, Peter and Rosemary Grant, have spent twenty years proving that Darwin did not know the strength of his own theory.  For among the finches of Daphne Major, natural selection is neither rare nor slow: it is taking place by the hour, and we can watch.

In this dramatic story of groundbreaking scientific research, Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.  The Beak of the Finch is an elegantly written and compelling masterpiece of theory and explication in the tradition of Stephen Jay Gould.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10945 in Books
• Published on: 1995-05-30
• Released on: 1995-05-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.com Review
Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spend twenty years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos studying natural selection. They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are four hundred at the time of the author's visit, or when there are over a thousand. They have observed about twenty generations of finches -- continuously.
Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.

From Publishers Weekly
Weiner follows scientists Peter and Rosemary Grant who, for the past 20 years, have studied the continuing evolution of the beaks of finches in the Galapagos Islands.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
This is an account of Peter and Rosemary Grant's research on the microevolutionary modifications that occur in finch beaks as they adapt to environmental changes. Analysis of data collected from 18,000 birds on a Galapagos island over 21 years conclusively demonstrates that the pressures of natural selection are currently altering wild populations. Also, by incorporating others' work on present-day evolutionary variations in fish, insects, and microbes, Weiner (The Next One Hundred Years, LJ 2/1/90) challenges the concept of evolution as a time-frozen process. Harmonized with the writings of Charles Darwin, this book provides the facts to bring alive evolution as an ongoing process. Highly recommended for general collections, but informed readers would do better with Peter Grant's own Ecology and Evolution of Darwin's Finches (Princeton Univ. Pr., 1986).
Frank Reiser, Nassau Community Coll., Garden City, N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Interesting, as well as scientific
We visited Galapagos recently and saw the island where most of the story takes place, but were not allowed to land. Although visiting the islands gives you a feel for the location, it is not necessary to enjoy the book. The findings of the research on the finch beaks were very enlightening, explaining how evolution can take place quite quickly. The size of the beaks of the finch would fluctuate back and forth, depending on the climate. It is explained very well.

A Reasonable Introduction to Evolution
Beak of the Finch appears to be unique among popular evolution texts in the way that the author illustrates his points by highlighting measurable changes in the physical attributes of animals to prove the validity of Darwin's thesis: that plants and animals, through selective breeding, sprout biologically advantageous features.

His main subject are (no surprise) the finches first recorded in detail by Darwin in the 19th century. A band of researchers making meticulous observations and measurement over three decades, have compiled a catalog of data so extensive that meaningful averages have been firmly established to show how certain species of finch have responded within a handful of generations (or less!) to pressures exerted on them by their local environment. Clear variations in beak depth and width have been observed in response to adverse weather, bountiful food, scarce food, plant changes, nesting habitat availability and more. Such factors have directly altered these finches -- within the scale of far less than a human lifetime -- where it was once thought that "evolution in action" could _never_ be observed. True, the measurable average change is neither enormous nor startlingly obvious, but it's real none the less.

Interspersed with this tale of observation and measurement is a good narration of how Darwin himself gradually shifted from pious adherence to Creationism to a truth he could no longer deny in the face of what he considered to be incontrovertible evidence.

A good book, but it loses steam towards the end as the observations of the finches is not quite meaty enough alone to fill an entire book. The author moves on to some other notable examples of observable evolution such as moths and apple flys. This material, while casually interesting, made for less compelling reading.

A time for every finch
A serious effort to educate the layman about the intricacies of evolution, against a historical background, with the emphasis on Darwin's thoughts and the work of the Grants. I had two problems with the book. The best part was the description of Daphne Major, the logistics of working there, and the amazing findings of the Grants. The continual references to what Darwin thought quickly became tedious, and seemed irrelevant. I felt much the same about the way the author broke away from the Grants to discuss other similar studies, because they seemed much less interesting, and were distracting, almost like filler, though I realize they were part of the book's educational element. So, I found the basic organization of the book unsatisfying. A more in depth account of the Galapagos and the Grants would have been preferable. The second gripe I have is not the fault of the author, it's just the way science goes. The book is seriously outdated now, since there is no mention of evo-devo, which has emerged as a powerful paradigm in evolution. This would not be such a big problem if the author had stuck with the Grants. Their story is never going to get old, that's the way it is with adventure, geography, and biographical accounts of amazing people.