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Books : The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our TimeIn association with Amazon.comby: Jonathan Weiner  List Price: $14.95 Amazon.com's Price: $10.17 You Save: $4.78 (32%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 598.8830438 EAN: 9780679733379 ISBN: 067973337X Label: Vintage Manufacturer: Vintage Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 352 Publication Date: May 30, 1995 Publisher: Vintage Release Date: May 30, 1995 Studio: Vintage Sales Rank: 13793 Related Items:
Editorial Review: 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. 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. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Interesting, as well as scientificWe 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. Rating:  - A Reasonable Introduction to EvolutionBeak 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 ... Read More Rating: - A time for every finchA 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 ... Read More Rating:  - Repetitive, Incorrect, and Trying too HardThis is one of the worst books I've ever read. I strongly recommend against reading it, especially for the science folks or lay people who are not stupid. That was a joke; in my opinion, no one on Earth who is actually interested enough to read a book on this topic will be such a poor thinker that a book in this style is appropriate for them. Specifically, this book is: * Repetitive -- on the same page, the author will often have multiple paragraphs saying exactly the same ... Read More Rating: - The Beak of the FinchBrilliant writing and organization shows that evolution can occur in as short a time frame as two years. Never boring. The non-scientist will find this book of our changing world a good read. Browse for similar items by category:
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