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Title: The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time by Jonathan Weiner ISBN: 0-679-73337-X Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 30 May, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.61 (46 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: absolutely first-rate science journalism
Comment: Weiner has written a great book on evolutionary science. Instead of a frozen doctrine whose outlines are generally agreed upon as a quasi-religion, Weiner demonstrates how the modalities of evolution - how it actually occurs in nature - are still under investigation. It is a snapshot of an evolving science, carried out over a lifetime of research by two distinguished scientists.
One of the particular things they are attempting to observe directly is a speciation event - the creation of a new species of finch - which we long assumed must take place over geologic time and hence is unobservable. But in the process, Weiner reviews the notion of evolution, with fascinating tidbits from Darwin's original research and thoughts on these same finches of the Galopagos. It is a brilliant portrait of the cutting edge in science as well as a detailed review of many basic notions of evolution.
It is also a beautifully written book, indeed a masterpiece of elucidation. And it is all hard science, rather than the pseudo-scientific pap that passes for it in so many popular magazines today. While its rigor makes the book a challenge to read, it is well worth the effort.
Recommended, one of the best pieces of scientific journalism I ever read.
Rating: 5
Summary: An Informative Story of the Forces Behind Life
Comment: The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner is a very mind-expanding, scientific, yet descriptive and intriguing book. It presents evidence behind the theory of evolution in an easy-to-understand format. It summarizes a twenty-year study of Darwin's finches on the Galapagos Islands. It also incorperates Darwin's life and research into the finch study by Rosemary and Peter Grant. The descriptions and diverse experiments explained make this Pulitzer Prize-winning book very enjoyable to read. However, there are parts where there is too much repetition of ideas. There are also parts in which Weiner unneccessarily delves into religious beliefs and dismisses them, though they often have nothing to do with evolution, the topic of his book. Overall, the book is well-written, informative, and interesting.
Rating: 2
Summary: Darwin Doesn't Stand a Chance
Comment: Let's agree on one thing: Evolution proposes that one species originates from another species as it goes through genetic changes in response to environmental changes."The Beak of the Finch" claims to show this in real life by relying on observations of moths, fish, bacteria, and especially the finches of the Galapagos Islands. Each example, however, shows that the species in the long run remain the same or nearly so. The finch study, which focused on beak size, showed that the beak size of finches remained the same after 25 years, though there were some population cycles paralelling El Nino cycles. The conclusion? "Fortis [the finch] has done a lot of evolving just to stay in place!" (p. 192, hardcover) They change without changing? Right! Creationists should love this book. If all evolutionary theory sounds this illogical, Darwin doesn't stand a chance. At another point the book tells us that after Newton's Principia religion became irrelevant--if that is so, why did Newton himself devote most of his life after writing Principia to studies of theology? Bogus logic + bogus history = bogus thesis.
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Title: The Voyage of the Beagle: Charles Darwin's Journal of Researches by Charles Darwin, Janet Browne, Michael Neve, Michael Neue ISBN: 014043268X Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: November, 1989 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Galapagos: A Natural History by Michael H. Jackson ISBN: 1895176409 Publisher: University of Calgary Press Pub. Date: May, 1994 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: An Identification Guide to the Birds, Mammals, and Reptiles of the Galpagos Islands by Andy Swash, Robert Still, Ian Lewington, Rob Still ISBN: 0300088647 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Evolution's Workshop: God and Science on the Galápagos Islands by Edward J. Larson ISBN: 0465038115 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 16 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Wildlife of the Galapagos by Julian Fitter, Daniel Fitter, David Hosking ISBN: 0691102953 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 July, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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