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The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time |  | Author: Jonathan Weiner
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
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Rating:  79 reviews
Sales Rank: 6083
Media: Paperback
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.7
ISBN: 067973337X
Dewey Decimal Number: 598.8830438
EAN: 9780679733379
ASIN: 067973337X
Publication Date: May 30, 1995
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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.
Product Description
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 79
 Evolution on speed August 2, 2010
Steve Reina (Troy Michigan)
Millions of years ago, whales were land dwelling animals.
And amazingly, their trek from land to see only took five million years based on the fosil record.
By going to the Gallopogas and examining Charles Darwin's own finches, Weiner's book shows us evolution on speed where evolutionary events can occur over a short time.
This finding of course puts paid to the Creationist scread that evolution cannot be "proved" but more importantly it points out that evolution has a dynamic quality not previously considered: an ability to sometimes rapidly respond to changes in the biosphere.
This finding as alluded of course has great meaning for seemingly short lapses in the fosil record here on Earth.
However it also points interesting possiblity in contemplating extra terrestrial life. I find it interesting in the least that the first planets found off world were radically different from anything found in our solar system.
Among other implications (to be sure) Weiner's findings may also put paid to the notions of those like Peter Ward who suggest that extremely long time periods are required for life to evolve. (In this regard, please see Ward's excellent Rare Earth wherein he suggests that life off Earth is probably rare -- among other reasons -- due to the fact that it took so long to evolve to intelligence here on Earth.) If the off worlders are as adaptable as even Darwin's finches, exobiology -- like the study of extra solar planets themselves -- might be not only weirder than we imagine, but maybe even weirder than we can imagine.
Before closing I think this book also deserves high praise for the fact that so much more was learned when researchers were willing to simply return to the source of Darwin's intitial inquiry and in so doing learn the even greater lesson that nature is willing to teach us as long as we're willing to continue listening.
God is a programmer February 18, 2010
Secret Reader (Santa Cruz, CA USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is an eye opening and clear narrative about how adaptation via natural selection works. Debate about evolution usually centers on examining and interpreting fossilized evidence of ancient natural history. This book throws that out the window and shows that evolution is going on every day, all around us. Most of book makes this case by describing the decades long observation of Darwin's Finches in the Galapagos Islands by Peter and Mary Grant, a husband and wife team of Princeton professors. The Grants are able to correlate finch adaptations with environmental changes in the Galapagos. This, in itself, is a fascinating read but then the author, Weiner, brings the point home by describe several other examples in the closing chapters of the book. The two that stand out are moths that are evolving to pesticide resistance and common bacteria that evolving bacterial resistance. Did you know that we lose more agriculture to pests now than we did before modern agriculture began widespread pesticide use? All we are doing is speeding up the evolution of pests in an increasingly desperate and futile arms race to develop nastier pesticides.
I also have to say that believing Christians have nothing to fear in learning about evolution from this book. God has revealed some of him or herself in the books of the bible but the natural world all around you also contains clear evidence of the processes that God designed. If you truly want to become closer to God and to understand how God thinks then you must fearlessly learn from the evidence in the natural world all around you. History is full of examples of biblical interpretations that were discarded because of man's deepening insight of the natural world. Galileo was persecuted by the church of his day because he dared to suggest that the earth revolved around the sun. The Grant's also face a degree of persecution today when well meaning but fearful Christians try to drive their ideas and research underground and out of schools. Open yourself to understanding the gifts of the natural world you can observe all around you and you will grow closer to God.
 Evolution, Up Close & Personal September 24, 2009
C. Macauley (Washington, DC)
The story of Rosemary and Peter Grant's twenty-year study of the finches of the Galapagos islands goes far beyond ornithology and even beyond biology: the author contends that the Grants have successfully observed the birds evolving under stressful conditions to become better adapted to their environment. That claim may be disputed, but the book is a great adventure story of science under brutal conditions--the most barren of islands, so rugged that just landing on it is potentially fatal. The description of how the study was conceived and carried out is woven into the Grants' own personal story and the whole is placed into the context of the history of evolutionary theory, told in an intelligent and entertaining style. The book ends with some comparisons of other similar attempts to observe evolution, and the arguments are compelling that the Grants have succeeded in doing so.
While fascinating and well-written, I must admit that there were parts that were a bit dry and you really have to love this subject to get all the way through the book. Probably the best part is Weiner's explanation for why the finches' beaks are so crucial to their survival: their primary food source is a tiny, rock-hard seed. There is also a very funny passage on how the Grants discovered what male finches find sexually attractive.
A pleasant and engrossing read for the serious or semi-serious naturalist. Recommended for those who enjoyed Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World.
On complexity of Nature March 27, 2009
Valentin (Milky Way, Universe)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
'The Beak of the Finch' is a book on evolution which was the recipient of the nonfiction Pulitzer Prize. That and the fact that it was only about 300 pages clinched my interest. I knew I was embarking on a light and thought-provoking journey.
Jonathan Weiner wrote this book primarily about the work of two scientists: Peter and Rosemary Grant, and their thorough study of evolutionary effects on finches of the Galapagos archipelago. They spent twenty years traveling to the islands, meticulously recording all the necessary statistics of how the birds had undergone physiological change in order to adapt and survive the harsh and ever-changing environment. Their intention as scientists was to witness evolution in progress. The book also included a variety of topics, such as introduction to Darwin and his thought; artificial evolution and other experiments on natural selection done in labs. But the star characters are the Darwin's finches.
Here are some of the observational data that were recorded by the Grant expeditions.
Sudden and enduring changes in rainfall were the primary killers of finches. When drought came, various plants were becoming very rare. Some seeds - which were accessible to most finches during normal season with adequate amount of rain - started to disappear due to scarcity of water. The only seeds left had shells which were difficult to penetrate. The finches with the "right" beaks were able to crack open those shells. If a finch's beak was even less than one millimeter smaller than what was needed, it died of starvation. During drought, many more males persevered than females because males were larger. That was in 1977.
In 1983 El Nino rolled through the islands. The system brought a huge flood and a flip happened in natural selection. As opposed to drought, and contrary to common sense, large birds started to disappear and small ones were prospering. The results were at first puzzling. Later it was understood that during abundant rainfall there were many more small seeds than big ones. Large, evolutionary "advanced" finches had bigger appetites and were not content with small nuts. They could not compete with small finches which needed fewer seeds to live. In this case smaller finches multiplied, thus sort of regressing to a "simpler" time when the whole populations of these exotic birds were small in size.
But why from time to time do different kinds of finches come to a near-extinction only to reappear and prosper. The reason is the diversity of food and the adaptive capabilities. Different beak requires a different seed. That's why when the seasonal rains ended, the finches moved apart and specialized: each one settled in the area with the right kind of seed for its particular size and shape of beak. They inadvertently sought efficiency in consuming nutrition. The wonders of nature!
It's a very entertaining book that, while being educational, isn't overbearingly academic. Many people are so engulfed by their hectic lives that they need a reminder of how interesting the world is outside their home or office. This book will definitely show you that.
A masterpiece March 3, 2009
The Nerd (Saylorsburg, PA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book rightfully won the Pulitzer. The author focuses his exposition on evolution on the work of Peter and Rosemary Grant, who study the finches of the Galapagos Islands. Over more than twenty years, the Grants have observed discernible changes in the dimensions of the finches' beaks as a result of environmental pressures in the islands. Weiner manages to incorporate this research with other recent projects on evolution into a work that is extraordinary in its depth and complexity while remaining absorbing and accessible to the average reader. He also exposes the evolution in action in pressing modern issues such as the resistance of pests to agrochemicals and bacteria to antibiotics. For anyone willing to open their mind, this book offers powerful proof for evolution.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 79
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