I grew up near Darwin’s house in Kent. Although only vaguely aware of his influence. My interest grew as I studied biology at school and geology at university. The evolutionary significance of Darwin’s finches stayed with me. I longed to sail in tropical waters like him and was fortunate enough to do so in the iconic Galápagos Islands. I was employed as a resident naturalist guide on yachts when tourism was just starting to take off. Instead of settling down to a regular job I became a tour leader. I wrote an educational book about the islands and then with a colleague Pete Oxford, the wildlife guide for Bradt.
The updated fourth edition of Bradt Guides Galapagos Wildlife is lavishly illustrated. Packed with information and superb photography. The easy-to-carry…
Darwin was chosen to accompany Captain FitzRoy on this voyage of exploration and science. Though Galápagos only represented five weeks of a five-year journey, it is the most significant chapter.
His journal takes us around the world as Darwin describes the natural history of the tropics and their relationship to the earth. He realised that isolated forms on archipelagos distil the process of natural selection. He was fascinated by the reptiles, especially the unique marine iguanas. Later the study of collected bird species brought him closer to his ideas on evolution.
Having lived on the islands, I am impressed by how much he observed in such a short time. He taught me how geology, climate and flora and fauna all play an important role in the natural world. It made me realise the value of patient observation.
Charles Darwin's travels around the world as an independent naturalist on HMS Beagle between 1831 and 1836 impressed upon him a sense of the natural world's beauty and sublimity which language could barely capture. Words, he said, were inadequate to convey to those who have not visited the inter-tropical regions, the sensation of delight which the mind experiences'.
Yet in a travel journal which takes the reader from the coasts and interiors of South America to South Sea Islands, Darwin's descriptive powers are constantly challenged, but never once overcome. In addition, The Voyage of…
When I was in the Galapagos, I volunteered to help scientists study the finches on Daphne Major Island. There were just two of us on an island surrounded by sharks. Every Darwin's finch had been ringed, and I had to observe what they ate. It was an experience that has left an indelible mark on my psyche.
The research was part of a project by Peter and Rosemary Grant, who spent twenty years following in Darwin's footsteps. Not only did they demonstrate the robustness of his theory, but they also showed that the process works in decades, not millennia.
Jonathan Weiner's The Beak of the Finch is a Pulitzer Prize-winning summary of Grant's work. He manages to eloquently summarise number-crunching academic work for the layman. It is a rare achievement to write an unputdownable book about science.
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • A dramatic story of groundbreaking scientific research of Darwin's discovery of evolution that "spark[s] not just the intellect, but the imagination" (Washington Post Book World).
“Admirable and much-needed.... Weiner’s triumph is to reveal how evolution and science work, and to let them speak clearly for themselves.”—The New York Times Book Review
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…
Many people don't realise that the Galápagos Islands are inhabited. Settlers began to arrive in the middle of the 20th century. Before that, there were pirates, convicts, and oddballs, then pioneers from Europe.
In the 1930s five brothers, the Angermeyers, arrived, fleeing Hitler's Germany. I met Johanna Angermeyer, whose father was one of those brothers. Little did I know the amazing story behind how she got there. Johanna grew up in California, her mother once married to an Ecuadorian pilot. He died in a plane crash, then she had a romance with one of the brothers in Quito, but he died too.
She decided to visit the Galápagos Islands with her mother. They stayed, living a Robinson Crusoe life. Her story tells how hard it was. Later, Johanna met a British sailor and decided to settle. He was crew on the first sailing boats that took tourists around the enchanted islands. Ten years later in 1979 I met them both.
This is the story of Johanna Angermeyer-Fox's search for her family, part adventure story, part detective story which culminates in the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. It is a fascinating account of the pleasures and hardships of living in one of the world's most remote places.
After all that science it’s fun to have a surreal fantasy.
It’s a million years in the future, under the watchful eye of a ghost, a shipwrecked boat strands a motley group of people from all over the world on an island. When the humans destroy the planet with World War III and become infertile, they evolve into aquatic furry creatures with webbed feet.
Vonnegut turns evolution on its head. His ‘Nature Cruise of the Century’ made me laugh and reminds me of some of the characters I’ve had to deal with on my own yacht charters. In some ways I think Vonnegut was prophetic.
When I first arrived in the Galápagos, I thought the plants consisted of a few drab cacti and thorn bushes. As I explored, I discovered that the unique flora was as fascinating as the reptiles and birds.
There are giant prickly pears, tree-like sunflowers, and rare orchids in the humid highlands. What I could have used was a good field guide to the plants. Conley McMullen has produced just that (albeit after I left). Now, when I go back, I can take this invaluable guide with me. He covers the endemic plants as well as some of the many exotic introduced flowers. Some have become invasive pests, such as the mora blackberry, and guava fruit.
As the conservation organisations turn their attention to restoring the islands to what they once were, this book is still of great value.
The Galapagos are home to a wide-ranging assortment of unusual plants and animals. The islands became famous as the site of Charles Darwin's research leading to his theory of evolution by natural selection, and their magnificent flora and fauna continue to draw visitors from around the world. Based on the author's 16 years of fieldwork and featuring his exceptional photography, Flowering Plants of the Galapagos is the first accessible, in-depth yet compact guide to the plant life of the area.
An invaluable resource for tourists, natural history enthusiasts, and professionals, the book:
* Introduces the botanical history of the islands…
The updated fourth edition of Bradt Guides Galapagos Wildlife is lavishly illustrated. Packed with information and superb photography. The easy-to-carry format covers everything you're likely to see, in the air, on the ground, or underwater. Plus, a history of the islands, their habitats, and volcanic origins. The guide contains the most detailed descriptions of visitor sites. The trail maps are unique. You can see where the landings are and what to see. A conservation overview is also included. The book is written and illustrated by two experienced naturalist guides who have been visiting the islands for decades. Learn about the discovery of an 'extinct' species of tortoise on Fernandina Island, the rare 'pink iguanas' on Wolf Volcano, and changes in the taxonomy of 'Darwin's finches'.
When Lara was four years old, her father moved from Rochester, New York, to Anchorage, Alaska, a distance of over 4,000 miles. She spent her childhood chasing after him, flying a quarter of the way around the world to tug at the hem of his jacket.
Now that he is in his eighties, she contemplates her obligation to an absentee father. The Truth About Unringing Phones is an exploration of responsibility and culpability told in experimental and fragmented essays.
When Lara was four years old, her father moved from Rochester, New York, to Anchorage, Alaska, a distance of over 4,000 miles. She spent her childhood chasing after him, flying a quarter of the way around the world to tug at the hem of his jacket. Now that he is in his eighties, she contemplates her obligation to an absentee father.
The Truth About Unringing Phones: Essays on Yearning is an exploration of responsibility and culpability told in experimental and fragmented essays.
