The Beak Of The Finch - Softcover

Weiner, Jonathan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099468719 ISBN 13: 9780099468714

Publisher: Vintage, 1995

Synopsis

This is one of the easiest-to-read, most exciting books on evolution of the past twenty years. It describes evolution happening before our eyes among the isolated bird populations of the Galapagos - the very finches observed by Darwin on his Beagle voyage - and its heroes are an unsung British couple. It is uncannily fascinating to imagine the beak of the finch changing in our lifetime in response to evolutionary pressure. . . .

About this title

Review:

"A book that reads as easily as a good novel, while adroitly conveying information" (John Gribbin Sunday Times)

"Jonathan Weiner's powerful and elegant book is a meditation on Darwinism, from its beginnings to our current planetary crisis... At its core is a study of the changes that are still happening to the 13 finch species that inhabit the Galapagos Islands. They are famous ( and fabled) birds, whose eccentric adaptations to the raw, unformed habitats of these young volcanoes gave Darwin one of the crucial clues in the development of his theory of "the Origin of the Species by means of Natural Selection"" (Richard Mabey Independent on Sunday)

"No other book has displayed so dramatically the tiny but momentous changes that are taking place all around us in the living world. Darwin would be cheering" (Derwent May Evening Standard)

"The subtle interweaving of historical fact, hard scientific detail and humorous anecdote makes this the kind of popular science writing to which many authors aspire but which so few achieve" (Economist)

From the Back Cover:

'Jonathan Weiner's powerful and elegant book is a meditation on Darwinism, from its beginnings to our current planetary crisis...At its core is a study of the changes that are still happening to the 13 finch species that inhabit the Galapagos Islands. They are famous (and fabled) birds, whose eccentric adaptations to the raw, unformed habitats of these young volcanoes gave Darwin one of the crucial clues in the development of his theory of "the Origin of the Species by means of Natural Selection"'
-Richard Mabey, Independent on Sunday

'No other book has displayed so dramatically the tiny but momentous changes that are taking place all around us in the living world. Darwin would be cheering'
-Derwent May, Evening Standard

'This is a work of huge fascination and importance...It has every chance of becoming a classic'
-Nigel Hawkes, The Times

'The subtle interweaving of historical fact, hard scientific detail and humorous anecdote makes this the kind of popular science writing to which many authors aspire but which so few achieve'
-Economist

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0099468719
• ISBN 13: 9780099468714
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352