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The Beak of the Finch

A Story of Evolution in Our Time

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The Beak of the Finch

By: Jonathan Weiner
Narrated by: Victor Bevine
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Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction, 1995

Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spent 20 years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos, studying natural selection. They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are 400 at the time of the author's visit or when there are over a thousand. They have observed about 20 generations of finches - continuously. Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.

©1995 Jonathan Weiner (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Accolades & Awards

Pulitzer Prize
1995
Los Angeles Times Book Prize
1994
Evolution & Genetics Los Angeles Times Book Prize Pulitzer Prize Biological Sciences Animals Evolution Science Outdoors & Nature

Editorial reviews

The subtitle of The Beak of the Finch — A Story of Evolution in Our Time — is the vital thematic thread of this groundbreaking Pulitzer Prize-winning book, rendered into audio by Victor Bevine’s masterful narrative performance. “Charles Darwin never witnessed natural selection in action,” states the author, Jonathan Weiner. But Princeton University professors Peter and Rosemary Grant have seen the evidence, in flourishing abundance, during their 20-year study of finches on the Galapagos Island of Daphne Major. The Grants and their assistants did so with the very finches that famously captured Darwin’s attention during his five-week exploration on the Galapagos Islands. “Evolution in our time” means that wherever there is life, the force that drives evolution, natural selection, is everywhere and always present. Evolutionary changes thus occur at a much more rapid pace than had been envisaged by Darwin, indeed, than had been thought by the Grants’ contemporary scientists. The stunning and startling beauty of this book is achieved through the convergence of an interesting collection of scientists, newly discovered findings about finches, great writing, and the extraordinary, ultra-exotic island of Daphne Major.

Victor Bevine narrates with a powerful, expressive voice, always actively modulating with the flow of the text, shifting his narrative delivery and tone with shifts of meaning, stress, and emphases, capped with a fluent on-the-mark narrative momentum. He has one of the most dynamically active voices in the business. His The Beak of the Finch narration is an expressive merging of the scientific and the polemic with the overflowing living biological island of wonder that is Daphne Major: its finches and the scientists studying them, the evidence gained from the research, and the island itself, which is unique even by the standards of the Galapagos Islands. Bevine is keenly and imaginatively in touch with everything in this book. He finds himself on this enchanted island that embodies, to a near miraculous degree, the driving force of life on earth. And these finches! With no fear of humans, they will land right on you: your hand, your head, your nose, into your cup of java. It is these finches, more specifically the beaks of the finches and the oscillating changes of size and shape within 20 years of research, that demonstrate evolution in rapid action and mark a fundamental change in our understanding of the theory of evolution. The spirit of Bevine’s inner cello is tuned to these extraordinary representatives of the life force, the scientists studying them, and the wondrous stage upon which these events take place, Daphne Major. —David Chasey

Critic reviews

  • Pulitzer Prize, General Non-Fiction, 1995
  • AudioFile Earphones Award, 2010
"An engaging account of a seminal study that introduces the reader to Darwin and to the dedicated, tireless biologists who have proved him right." ( Booklist)
"Narrator Victor Bevine’s English accents include Australian, American, and British, with seamless switches to Ecuadorian Spanish. He senses just the right pace for his well-pronounced deluge of scientific words and arguments. His enthusiasm for what the finch studies demonstrated heralds the Grants’ momentous contribution to our knowledge of biology today." ( AudioFile)
"Evocative writing, exhaustive research, and Weiner's memorable portrait of the engaging Grants assure The Beak of the Finch membership in the select pantheon of science books that spark not just the intellect, but the imagination." ( Washington Post Book World)
Accessible Science • Insightful Research • Captivating Voice • Compelling Narrative • Fascinating Examples

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For people who don't have a strong science background, but do believe in evolution and natural selection - the next time some fan of Fox News tells you with great confidence that "Darwin's Theory of Evolution was just a theory. It hasn't been proven," you can whip this book out of your backpack and beat them with it.

Completely accessible, written with a strong narrative arc that keeps you turning pages, Weiner has created a compelling work of popular science. He summarizes, in layman's terms, some of the great field research projects that usually scientists only talk about to each other. Projects where natural selection, sexual selection and hybridization have been observed to change species within the span of human observation. That's right, folks, proof after proof of evolution in various ways - theory no longer.

Weiner then goes on to relate these proofs to other touchstones in our lives - drug-resistant viruses, catastrophic weather events.

This is a darn good read as well as being a sensible antidote to the anti-science wave of foolishness sweeping the U.S.

Powerful narrative; fascinating subject

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If you don’t care about birds, this book will change you!
I am usually bored by science writing and know nothing about birds but this book is so fascinating and the story telling made it so compelling, I was recommending it to everyone. Victor and Jonathan transport you out of your car and into the island life of the Galapagos. Give this book a shot.

PLANET EARTH IN AUDIO FORM.

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An excellent accessible history of how the Galapagos fit into Darwin's evolving thoughts. But why, starting with the chapter on pesticide resistance, turn this into a hackneyed alarmist environmental polemic? There is a certain irony that since this was published the many imminent catastrophes described by the author have not only not happened but conditions in the Galapagos have actually improved, in part due to the insecticides & pesticides despised by the author (wiping out, for instance, invasive goats and red ants).

Good History/Too Alarmist

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Evolution made material, without anthropology. Did you know that the illegal ivory trade is causing elephants to be born with shorter or non-existent tusks. Well written and fascinating for the evolution buff. A must read!

This book clearly deserves all its awards

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This is essential reading for anyone interested in ecology or evolution. The book conveys the science in a very clear and concise manner, without dumbing it down.

This book will make you look at nature with a new eye.

A fantastic introduction to evolution!

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