Author:Jonathan Weiner
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. . . .
A book that reads as easily as a good novel, while adroitly conveying information
—— John Gribbin , Sunday TimesJonathan 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 SundayNo 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 StandardThe 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
—— EconomistThis tour de force has... sheer gusto and kinetic energy
—— Guardian'A clever book about serious ideas that can happily be read on the beach'
—— Colin Tudge , Sunday Telegraph'Exhilarating'
—— Melvyn Bragg , Observer'As enthralling in its own way as was Darwin's original'
—— Kenan Malik , Independent on Sunday