Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
On a desert island in the heart of the Galapagos archipelago, where Darwin received his first inklings o... read full description
On a desert island in the heart of the Galapagos archipelago, where Darwin received his first inklings o... read full description
reviews
Aug 18, 2007
Sarah
rated it: 
Wow.
When I joined Goodreads a few months back, I set two rules for myself: first, to review books as I read or re-read them, and second, to be sparing with my ratings. I've not given any book five stars this summer. This is the first.
Weiner won the Pulitzer for general non-fiction with this book in 1995. He utterly deserves it. While it's not difficult to find an interesting non-fiction book, and not too hard to find a truly gifted writer (the market's competitive like th More...
When I joined Goodreads a few months back, I set two rules for myself: first, to review books as I read or re-read them, and second, to be sparing with my ratings. I've not given any book five stars this summer. This is the first.
Weiner won the Pulitzer for general non-fiction with this book in 1995. He utterly deserves it. While it's not difficult to find an interesting non-fiction book, and not too hard to find a truly gifted writer (the market's competitive like th More...
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Jan 06, 2009
Paul
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Timely for me since we were visiting Galapagos Isles while I read this. A great summary of best of where evolutionary science is heading...with Darwin's Galapagos finch as stars of the show with current research that is revolutionizing how we 'see' evolution in action.
Great science writer...Pulitzer Prize in 95 for this book.
Great science writer...Pulitzer Prize in 95 for this book.
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Dec 17, 2009
Tatiana
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This book is really important. The study of how micro-evolution happens from one year to the next to the next in the Galapagos gave me a lot of insight into how the environment shapes species. Traits are constantly changing, yet the graph jitters back and forth around some more-or-less average value. It's really not average, though, because climate, rainfall, etc. are all fundamentally chaotic systems. Organisms tend to track generation by generation the conditions as they fall out. Over ge
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Dec 14, 2011
Tiffany
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Beautifully written book. Although I'm reading an audible edition, I'm tempted to get a paperback edition just so I might read it aloud myself. The ideal reader in my head would be Tilda Swinton, who narrated the "Galapagos" series (beautiful in HD).
I still believe in Design, but creation is not a fixed-picture, it is a continual process. The belief in creation is not above scientific inquiry. That natural means find their way to life, to order, to being, is not just More...
I still believe in Design, but creation is not a fixed-picture, it is a continual process. The belief in creation is not above scientific inquiry. That natural means find their way to life, to order, to being, is not just More...
Aug 08, 2011
Lots of people I know rave about this book, but my feeling was…. Zzzzzzzz (snore). Unless you are an avid bird-enthusiast, this book feels very repetitive, and overly complimentary to the Grants, almost as if it were an advertisement for their work. They are wonderful people (I met them recently when they came to my university to give a talk) but if Jonathon Weiner spent so much time with them, didn’t he observe anything less flattering? That would have made them seem more normal and less saintl
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Sep 12, 2010
Kerfe
rated it:
You have to be intrigued by a book of evolutionary science that quotes not only Darwin, but the Bible, Kant, Shakespeare, Thomas Huxley, Pascal, Wallace Stevens, "The Practical Entomologist (1866)", and Buddha, accompanied by lovely bird, wildlife, and island illustrations.
"The Beak of the Finch" takes as its starting point Peter and Rosemary Grant's 20-year study of Darwin's finches on Daphne Major, a small island in the Galapagos. Their observations of the p More...
"The Beak of the Finch" takes as its starting point Peter and Rosemary Grant's 20-year study of Darwin's finches on Daphne Major, a small island in the Galapagos. Their observations of the p More...
Mar 05, 2010
Kathy
rated it:
I chose this book so I could engage in Daniel-speak, that is converse with my son Daniel who is studying Evolutionary Biology. Since the book was written in 1994, I asked Daniel if the book was still current. He said it is and he highly recommended the book to me.
This nonfiction book focuses on Peter and Rosemary Grant, 2 Biologists who have studied the finch on the Galapagos Islands since the early 1970's. Through their story the author expounds on Darwin, other important evolutionists More...
This nonfiction book focuses on Peter and Rosemary Grant, 2 Biologists who have studied the finch on the Galapagos Islands since the early 1970's. Through their story the author expounds on Darwin, other important evolutionists More...
Sep 24, 2009
Cmacauley
rated it:
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 d
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Sep 11, 2009
Nicholas
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Sep 28, 2011
Warnie B.
rated it:
3.5 stars. Really interesting and very well narrated, but I will admit I got reeeally sick of hearing, "natural selection scrutinizes daily and hourly..." First of all, natural selection is not a dude with a magnifying glass. And second of all, soooooo repetitious! He said it about seven or eight times in the first fourth or so of the book. Too much! Finally on the third time, he at least added "metaphorically," which made me feel a little better. But still. It annoyed me.
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Aug 16, 2011
Bill
rated it:
Let's start here: Someone really should invent a new word. Evolution, like gravity, is fact. It's far beyond theory status, as most people seem to use and understand the word. And damnit; it's not something you "believe" in (that would be like saying you believe in dirt). If you refuse to see that, you have an issue. You are somehow invested in believing something patently untrue. Why could that be?
Dunno...it is completely baffling to me.
This book ranks with McCullough's John Adams and More...
Dunno...it is completely baffling to me.
This book ranks with McCullough's John Adams and More...
Feb 28, 2009
Stephen
rated it:
This would be on my short list of best science books. Thrilling fieldwork. Especially poignant this month that we commemorate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his “The Origin of the Species.”
Weiner’s book details the study of Darwin’s finches by Princeton evolutionary biologists: Peter and Rosemary Grant. The Grants monitored every single finch on the island of Daphne Major in the Galápagos Islands over more than two de More...
Weiner’s book details the study of Darwin’s finches by Princeton evolutionary biologists: Peter and Rosemary Grant. The Grants monitored every single finch on the island of Daphne Major in the Galápagos Islands over more than two de More...
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Dec 13, 2009
Kate
rated it: 
Mercy, this book was so tedious. I was reading it on a trip to the Galapagos hoping it would add to the journey, but ended up thinking the entire book would have been much better as a long article in the New Yorker.
Page after page, the author talks about the beaks of difference size finches changing season after season, with no net effect.
Basically, the point of the book is that evolution happens all the time right under our noses and that Darwin and other early sci More...
Page after page, the author talks about the beaks of difference size finches changing season after season, with no net effect.
Basically, the point of the book is that evolution happens all the time right under our noses and that Darwin and other early sci More...
Nov 10, 2009
Reenie
rated it:
Here we have a book that's about a couple (Rosemary and Peter Grant), an individual (Darwin), and also about the overarching ideas and theories that they are associated - maybe even irrevocably entwined - with. That's evolution, in case you hadn't guessed, but of course it is in the title.
Science (and science-writing) has a complicated historical relationship with the question of 'Great Men' (it is almost always still men, of course, even with the few Marie Curies scattered in there) More...
Science (and science-writing) has a complicated historical relationship with the question of 'Great Men' (it is almost always still men, of course, even with the few Marie Curies scattered in there) More...
Mar 17, 2011
Lindsey
rated it:
Very well-written and engaging book about the work of the Grants with Darwin's Finches on the Galapagos. The premise of the book is that their research proves evolution, but all that is demonstrated is that already-present characteristics can fluctuate over time, which Creationists acknowledge. The documented change is in the beaks of the finches on the Galapagos islands: during a drought year, the average beak depth increases by tenths of a millimeter. During a subsequent wet year, the beak dep
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Jan 09, 2011
Ruth
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It' a book about a bunch of people who have been (since the 70s, I think) studying evolution in real time (mostly in the Galapagos). I found it really interesting and well-written, and I am in awe of the people who are doing this detailed work, all that measuring beaks and counting seeds year after year, and noticing these changes that seem tiny but mean the difference between life and death for a species. Although most of it was about the finches it also broadened out in later chapters about
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Jan 08, 2010
Jean
rated it:
Weiner examines the meticulous research of evolutionary biologists, Peter and Rosemary Grant, who studied thirteen varieties of finches on the Galapagos Islands for twenty years. Their observations and data document what happened when rare events like draught and El Nino shook up the birds’ environment, threw them into competition and forced measurable adaptive changes to their beaks. The Grants concluded that “the species around us are not fixed but in jittery motion.” Their work confirmed D
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Jun 06, 2009
Sueij
rated it:
This was excellent. I love accessible science, and especially natural science. The story of Darwin, evolution in general and evolution observed in action, and the finches in the Galapagos is well-told and made relevant. It just got better as the book went on, as the researchers and the author kept finding new pieces to explore. I was surprised and delighted when, near the end, the book covered such topics as antibiotic-resistant bacteria and pesticides. As a layperson, I never would have thought
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Jan 16, 2011
Anna
rated it:
Brilliant! I had no idea that evolution could be quite so quick. When Darwin visited the Galapagos, he collected finches but didn't record from which island came which finch and didn't realize that finches were specific to certain islands because of their beaks matching food sources. Peter and Rosemary Grant have been collecting data since 1973 from the island, Daphne Major. They know all the birds and collect data on seed size and hardness in addition to the finches themselves and their bea
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Feb 07, 2012
Mike
rated it:
I really liked this story of the Grants, and their trips to the Galapagos Islands to chart the variances in populations of certain finch species over time, and through climatic shifts. In the cradle of Darwinian theory it was interesting to read another account that backed up limited aspects of his ideas. Whether you believe the driving force behind change is natural selection, or the guiding hand of an almighty God who can do what He wills to maintain His creation you will be moved by the car
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Jun 12, 2011
Howard
rated it:
Over my lifetime, I've witnessed a conservative anti-intellectual strain move front and center into American life and political discourse. One of the hallmarks of this reactionary movement has been a Right-Christian religious fundamentalism that rejects science and the notion of objective scientific truths, everything from global warming to evolution. The Beak of the Finch deals with and expands on Darwin's central thesis: that organisms evolve to meet changing conditions. Where Darwin got it wr
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Jul 13, 2011
Adam
rated it:
Bill McKibben's bookjacket comment promises that The Beak of the Finch 'will forever change your sense of the pace of nature.' That's a bold promise, but Beak of the Finch has some revelations that are serious enough to warrant it.
The book is essentially a pop-sci collection of the most recent (in the 90's) evolution-in-action experiments that had been observed. Their findings significantly improve on the vision of evolution that prevails without such evidence. The stories are all More...
The book is essentially a pop-sci collection of the most recent (in the 90's) evolution-in-action experiments that had been observed. Their findings significantly improve on the vision of evolution that prevails without such evidence. The stories are all More...
Jul 15, 2008
Jeff
rated it:
I've always loved Charles Darwin's writing, but the Origin of Species' major shortcoming is the complete lack of any evidence. It is a wonderful and sensible theory, but Darwin basically supports it with logic alone.
Beak of the Finch is a short book about Darwin's theory that focuses on recent research in the field of evolutionary biology. The book has three sections:
- Part 1 focuses on natural selection and profiles Peter and Rosemary Grant, who have spent 20 years c More...
Beak of the Finch is a short book about Darwin's theory that focuses on recent research in the field of evolutionary biology. The book has three sections:
- Part 1 focuses on natural selection and profiles Peter and Rosemary Grant, who have spent 20 years c More...
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Feb 03, 2008
Jared
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Peter and Rosemary Grant, both Evolutionary Biologists out of Princeton, have been relentlessly researching one topic since the 70s: the beaks of finches. After identifying a few isolated species of finches in Daphne Major, a small island in the Galapagos chain, the Grants have gathered data for the past 30 years trying to document finch evolution in Darwin’s own. Jonathan Weiner documents, in plain English, the most important evolutionary biology study conducted in the 20th century. He expli
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Sep 03, 2007
Nick
rated it:
Fascinating -- I learned a lot from this book. But ultimately it was probably just a little to science-y for my taste. In a few sections I got bogged down in the details, but in others the anecdotes and examples of evolution in action are pretty amazing and compelling and very easy to understand.
This book makes it pretty obvious that anyone who disputes that selection goes on in the world at least on a small scale (e.g. variation in finches beaks causing larger or smaller beaked an More...
This book makes it pretty obvious that anyone who disputes that selection goes on in the world at least on a small scale (e.g. variation in finches beaks causing larger or smaller beaked an More...
Oct 06, 2011
Lucas
rated it:
A bit dry at times but the research this book covers is absolutely amazing for its scope, methodology, and results. Unlike the best of Michael Pollan's work who is one of the best at appealing to both science-obsessed and the general public, I think this is really only of interest only to science geeks (like yours truly). Think you know about evolution and speciation? You may find your ideas altered by this impressive research.
Aug 08, 2011
Olivier
rated it:
Wow, amazing, a must read! Finally a book that bringes a case study to life. Why is it hard to find more of these in our regular book stores while we are slapped around the head with books that provide an introduction/summary/overview of evolutionary biology?
It is written like a novel, with a lot of unexpected twists and turns. A history is revealed and the struggle of both man and finch in these harsh environments gripped me.
It is written like a novel, with a lot of unexpected twists and turns. A history is revealed and the struggle of both man and finch in these harsh environments gripped me.
Apr 24, 2011
Christine
rated it:
Interesting to read while in the Galapagos. Species evolve rapidly in response to constant pressures . . . not over hundreds or thousands of years, but some species evolve over just a few generations. According to Weiner approximately half of all Americans do not believe in evolution. I think the existence of an evolutionary process is impossible to refute after reading this book. Not that I doubted its existence before.
Jun 20, 2010
Paula
rated it:
Interesting read, yet I plodded my way through the first 250 pages. Hmmm. Perhaps I just needed to get to the Big Picture outlined in the last 50 pages (i.e., what it all means in the present and for the future). Fascinating as it should be, the detailed tale of evolutionary biologists' Rosemary and Peter Grant and their colleagues' measurement of finch beaks and collection of 20 years of data about the 13 species of Darwin's finches on the islands of Daphne and Genovesa in the Galapagos becomes
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Jan 05, 2012
Brilliant book and so interesting to read it while in the Galapagos, where the research is ongoing. In fact I often sat and looked at the odd profile of Daphne island on the horizon and imagined the Grants measuring beaks and taking blood samples, over forty years no less.
I learned a great deal and found much of what I learned haunting, as it has very real ramifications for the future.
