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K. Thalia Grant
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Darwin in Gal?pagos: Footsteps to a New World by K. Thalia Grant (2009-11-22) Hardcover – January 1, 1782

by K. Thalia Grant (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 16 ratings
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In 1835, during his voyage on HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin spent several weeks in Galapagos exploring the islands and making extensive notes on their natural history. Darwin in Galapagos is the first book to recreate Darwin's historic visit to the islands, following in his footsteps day by day and island by island as he records all that he observes around him.Thalia Grant and Gregory Estes meticulously retrace Darwin's island expeditions, taking you on an unforgettable guided tour. Drawing from Darwin's original notebooks and logs from the Beagle, the latest findings by Darwin scholars and modern science, and their own intimate knowledge of the archipelago, Grant and Estes offer rare insights into Darwin's thinking about evolution in the context of the actual locales that inspired him. They introduce Darwin as a young naturalist in England and onboard the Beagle and then put you in his shoes as he explores remote places in the islands. They identify the unique animals and plants he observed and collected, and describe dramatic changes to the islands since Darwin's time. They also explore the importance of Darwin's observations and collections to the development of his thinking after the voyage.Ideal for visitors to Galapagos and a delight for armchair travelers, Darwin in Galapagos is generously illustrated with color and black-and-white photographs and line drawings, as well as detailed maps of Darwin's island itinerary and informative box features on the archipelago's natural history.
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  1. Publisher
    Princeton University Press
  2. Publication date
    January 1, 1782
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01K0PXU92
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Princeton University Press (January 1, 1782)
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 16 ratings

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K. Thalia Grant

K. Thalia Grant

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
16 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

A Reader-Traveler
5.0 out of 5 stars The best read and reference on Darwin's own 1835 Galapagos visit
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2016
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This is one of a handful of especially good books about the Galapagos Islands IMO, as a fascinating and most accurately detailed and readable account of Charles Darwin's own travel activity while in the islands. I highly recommend it to anyone going to the Galapagos and/or interested in their formative role in the development of Darwin's ideas on evolution and his Origin of Species masterwork.It provides a well-written and illustrated treatment of his firsthand experiences while in the islands for five weeks and what led up to it earlier in his life and to joining the 5-year HMS Beagle voyage that got him there.

This book is the result of both authors' decades of experience living in the Galapagos Islands and their impressive library searches complemented by on-site research to pin down and reconstruct in some detail for the first time often where he most likely went during his five weeks in the islands. It's filled with rich local details and insights throughout. And also designed to be returned to time and again as we ponder what Darwin experienced there initially, its influence on his transformative ideas and treatises about evolution, and our own modern insights while visiting the islands nearly 200 years later now.

Given all the information in this book its rather compact in size actually; however, its hardbound format is abit too bulky and heavy still IMO for much use in the field. But if you're a biology, evolution and history buff, I would consider taking a copy of it along with you on a Galapagos trip within a smartphone or small tablet in kindle or ebook format.
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F. Rhoades
5.0 out of 5 stars DO NOT BUY THE KINDLE VERSION
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2016
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Do not get the Kindle Edition

This is a wonderful book. I just finished reading a hard-bound copy from our library. Not only does it provide detailed coverage of Darwin's time in the Galapagos, but it sets all in the context of his initial interests, the earlier part of the voyage of the Beagle and the later development of Darwin's thoughts about the mutability of species. I wanted a copy of the book that I could take on our trip next year to this fabled spot. However ...
For close to the price of the hardbound book, I expected a higher quality production! The line drawings of the various islands visited are low resolution and fuzzy. I never could find the plates which I also wanted to check for quality: you would think that a Kindle version would either link mention in the text to specific plates (which it does not) or come bookmarked with the plate locations. Never did find them. The ability to search on any topic is a plus for Kindle versions in general. For that, I would give the Kindle version one star (if I could rate it separately). I have returned my purchase and will look for a hardbound copy.
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Gary K
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book to mentally walk you through the steps of Darwin at Galapagos
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2022
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Book was written as a trip through darwin's footsteps and mentions the what he saw and missed in his 5 week journey. A bonus for me is the co-author was the Naturalistic Guide during my visit of Galapagos in 1987!
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Bobby Bill
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2018
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This book is easy to read and held my attention throughout. I would have given it 5 stars except for the absence in the electronic version of all of the figures. I missed them and found that this detracted from my pleasure mightily.
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C. Richard Byers
5.0 out of 5 stars Darwin in Galapagos
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2011
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This is a well researched book. One of the authors is the daughter of Peter and Rosemary Grant who did the classic research on Darwin's finches, a study made famous by Jonathan Weiner in "The Beak of the Finch." Geologist buffs will be happy at the detailed description of Darwin's geologic observations. The value of the book for me was the time it took for Darwin to start noticing that the life of the Galapagos was unique to each individual island. He was concentrating on the geology and was labeling his zoology specimens just Galapagos, rather than by each individual island. Who would think that the life on an island in view from the one you're standing on would be any different? He did label the mockingbirds accordingly, but realized too late (the 4th and last island visited) that he should have done more collecting and labelling each collection by individual island. It was a missed opportunity he deeply regretted. Although this is all well known, the detail here exceeds all other accounts.
6 people found this helpful
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Pldu4
3.0 out of 5 stars A little too boring for my son.
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2013
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Though my son has high interest in this subject the writing is a bit boring for him. I might read it.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Preparation for a Visit; Explains Why Galapagos are Important
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2016
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For those who are preparing for a visit to the Galapagos, this book explains why they are historically and scientifically significant. It retraces Darwin's short visit to a few of the islands but places it in a historical and scientific context that provides a much better understanding of their importance compared to a biography of Darwin or a guide to the flora and fauna of the Galapagos. The maps for the places Darwin visited are well done and very helpful, and if there's a weakness, it's the lack of more images to explain ideas or illustrate the text without having to refer to another book (e.g., a cross-section of the Beagle to understand its layout, the route the Beagle took to reach the Islands, some comparative images of the mockingbirds that provoked Darwin's thinking about "adaptive radiation").
2 people found this helpful
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Tomo
5.0 out of 5 stars Reveals the somewhat sad reality of the devastation wrought upon the islands in ...
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2014
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Read it even before you book a trip to Galapagos. Especially before. Reveals the somewhat sad reality of the devastation wrought upon the islands in the course of telling you everything you never knew about Darwin, great things at that.

I'm not sure I will ever go there now. Those islands are under siege from tourism, thought one could argue that tourist dollars are the only reason they have not been stripped bare already.
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