Jonathan Weiner: The Beak of the Finch

Jonathan Weiner

The Beak of the Finch

Monika says:

This review is based upon the German translation by Matthias Reiss.

The Galapagos Islands are "nature's laboratory", the only place on earth where you can watch evolution in real time; they already fascinated Charles Darwin when he visited them on his journey on the Beagle.

Researchers Peter and Rosemary Grant spent twenty years on Daphne Major, one of the smaller islands of the archipelago, in order to study Darwin's finches. There are thirteen different species of finches on Galapagos which all evolved on the islands and differ from each other only by the size and forms of their beaks, enabling them to live off the seeds of the plants growing there. Each species eats only one kind of seed and occupies its own ecological niche, leading to the evolution of different species without them necessarily being separated geographically. During their stint on the island the Grants witnessed how extreme environmental changes alternately caused the species to become more different and more alike – they were watching evolution in real time.

Now, if you think this book only speaks of non-descript birds that are not really different from each other, I can tell you that you are wrong. En passant, Jonathan Weiner also describes how evolution works for other species, for example in the case of the "famous" fruit fly drosophila, and he explains quite a few things Darwin didn't know or rather couldn't have known. But the biggest part of the book describes the experiences and the research of the Grants. Each page is packed with information, however, it's still a fun read, and no prior knowledge about evolution is required in order to enjoy it. It can be read as an introduction to evolutionary theory, but if you are already well-read in the field, you will still get a lot out of it; The Beak of the Finch should appeal to a wide audience. In general, I am suspicious of award-winning books; I wouldn't have believed I could have so much fun reading something that won the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction.

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Monika

Last changes: 09-05-04