The beak of the finch
by Jonathan Weiner · first published 1994
63% recommend38% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Readable pop-science account of Peter and Rosemary Grant's long-term field study of Galapagos finches, showing natural selection happening in real time; suits general readers and anyone curious about evolution.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
On a desert island in the heart of the Galapagos archipelago, where Darwin received his first inklings of the theory of evolution, two scientists, Peter and Rosemary Grant, have spent twenty years proving that Darwin did not know the strength of his own theory. For among the finches of Daphne Major, natural selection is neither rare nor slow: it is taking place by the hour, and we can watch. In this dramatic story of groundbreaking scientific research, Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself. The Beak of the
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So many. One I remember very fondly is "The beak of the Finch". https://www.amazon.com/Beak-Finch-Story-Evolution-Time/dp/06...
on “There’s no replacement for the thrill of browsing in a bookstore” ↗If you have never read "The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time" [1], do yourself a favor and get a copy asap. Not only is it a realy good read on the work of the Grants and their team, it is one of the very best pop-science books…
on “Galapagos finches caught in act of becoming new species” ↗The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner describes (extremely well, it´s a great book to read btw.) the evolution of Finch beaks on the Galapagos Islands. There was one particular Finch/beak size that had relatively small…
on “The heritability of fertility makes world population stabilization unlikely” ↗…chemistry (in no particular order, these are some of the first ones that come to my mind): "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" By Thomas S. Kuhn "The Diversity of Life" By Edward O. Wilson "The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time" by Jonathan Weiner "Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes: Further Reflections in Natural History" by Stephen Jay Gould "Life on a Young Planet" By Andrew H. Knoll "Galápagos"…
on “Ask HN: What are some good general technical books for teenagers?” ↗…Woese, who discovered Archaea: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/13/books/review/david-quamme... Evolution is interesting but up and down from this level of the tree of life too. I also loved reading "The Beak of the Finch" to learn about evolution in macroscopic metazoans.
on “What a Newfound Kingdom Means for the Tree of Life” ↗…selection is the same -- increase of a trait in the population by selecting only animals with that trait to reproduce. Speciation is merely a result of this process. Btw the pulitzer winning book "The beak of the finch" discusses how evolution actually doesn't need many generations to happen. What it needs is selection pressure -- events (such as severe draught) that force natural selection to happen within a handful…
on “Female African elephants are evolving without tusks due to ivory poaching” ↗"The Selfish Gene" shifted my perspective on the drivers of evolution> "The Beak of the Finch" shifted my perspective on evolutionary timeframes. "The Design and Evolution of C++" had an inverse impact on my appreciation of academic programming language design.
on “Ask HN: Are there any books that changed your life during college or school?” ↗…- http://www.amazon.com/Hateship-Friendship-Courtship-Loveship... "The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership" - http://www.amazon.com/Score-Takes-Care-Itself-Philosophy/dp/... "The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time" - http://www.amazon.com/Beak-Finch-Story-Evolution-Time/dp/067... "The Constitutional Convention: A Narrative History from the Notes of James Madison" - http://www.amazon.com/Constitutional-Convention-Narrative-Hi...…
on “Sam Altman's Twitter AMA” ↗The '94 book "The beak of the finch" [1] documents something similar. Natural selection in finches can respond to environmental changes that quickly that the researchers could see differentiation in action. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beak_of_the_Finch
on “Bird that went extinct 136,000 years ago evolves again” ↗Neat. Reminds me of Beak of the Finch and Darwin's thoughts
on “Ancient DNA yields surprising findings on earliest seafarers” ↗