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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time'
On the Galapagos Islands Charles Darwin gave his first hint at his theory of natural selection, writing about the finches he studied there. In Darwin's time there was no proof of this theoretical mechanism for evolution. Indeed it would have been thought absurd to imagine observing it actually happen; the process was thought to take geological time spans. Weiner, an outstanding science journalist, details research done in the last 20 years that proves otherwise. Biologists Peter and Rosemary Grant have documented the evolution of Darwin's Galapagos finches, demonstrating that it is neither rare nor slow, but can be watched by the hour. Weiner's superb account reads like a thriller and won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Birds, Mammals, & Reptiles of the Galapagos Islands: An Identification Guide'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Boy on the Back of the Turtle: Seeking God, Quince Marmalade and the Fabled Albatross on Darwin's Islands'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Charles Darwin: Voyaging A Biography'
In 1858 Charles Darwin was forty-nine years old, a gentleman scientist living quietly at Down House in the Kent countryside, respected by fellow biologists and well liked among his wide and distinguished circle of acquaintances. He was not yet a focus of debate; his big book on species still lay on his study desk in the form of a huge pile of manuscript. For more than twenty years he had been accumulating material for it, puzzling over questions it raised, tryingit seemed endlesslyto bring it to a satisfactory conclusion. Publication appeared to be as far away as ever, delayed by his inherent cautiousness and wish to be certain that his startling theory of evolution was correct.
It is at this point that the concluding volume of Janet Brownes biography opens. The much-praised first volume, Voyaging, carried Darwins story through his youth and scientific apprenticeship, the adventurous Beagle voyage, his marriage and the birth of his children, the genesis and development of his ideas. Now, beginning with the extraordinary events that finally forced the Origin of Species into print, we come to the years of fame and controversy.
For Charles Darwin, the intellectual upheaval touched off by his book had deep personal as well as public consequences. Always an intensely private man, he suddenly found himself and his ideas being discussedand often attackedin circles far beyond those of his familiar scientific community. Demonized by some, defended by others (including such brilliant supporters as Thomas Henry Huxley and Joseph Hooker), he soon emerged as one of the leading thinkers of the Victorian era, a man whose theories played a major role in shaping the modern world. Yet, in spite of the enormous new pressures, he clung firmly, sometimes painfully, to the quiet things that had always meant the most to himhis family, his research, his network of correspondents, his peaceful life at Down House.
In her account of this second half of Darwins life, Janet Browne does dramatic justice to all aspects of the Darwinian revolution, from a fascinating examination of the Victorian publishing scene to a survey of the often furious debates between scientists and churchmen over evolutionary theory. At the same time, she presents a wonderfully sympathetic and authoritative picture of Darwin himself right through the heart of the Darwinian revolution, busily sending and receiving letters, pursuing research on subjects that fascinated him (climbing plants, earthworms, pigeonsand, of course, the nature of evolution), writing books, and contending with his mysterious, intractable ill health. Thanks to Brownes unparalleled command of the scientific and scholarly sources, we ultimately see Darwin more clearly than we ever have before, a man confirmed in greatness but endearingly human.
Reviewing Voyaging, Geoffrey Moorhouse observed that if Brownes second volume is as comprehensively lucid as her first, there will be no need for anyone to write another word on Darwin. The Power of Place triumphantly justifies that praise. [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'Charles Darwin's Beagle Diary'
Here is a fascinating record of one of the most famous journeys ever made. This work constitutes an accurate historical document as well as an evocative travelog that conveys Charles Darwin's personal account of the voyage with freshness and immediacy. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle Round the World'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Darwin Conspiracy'
In this riveting new novel, best-selling author John Darnton transports us to Victorian England and around the world to reveal the secrets of a legendary nineteenth-century figure. Darnton elegantly blends the power of fact and the insights of fiction to explore the many mysteries attached to the life and work of Charles Darwin.
What led Darwin to the theory of evolution? Why did he wait twenty-two years to write On the Origin of Species? Why was he incapacitated by mysterious illnesses and frightened of travel? Who was his secret rival? These are some of the questions driving Darntons richly dramatic narrative, which unfolds through three vivid points of view: Darwins own as he sails around the world aboard the Beagle; his daughter Lizzies as she strives to understand the guilt and fear that struck her father at the height of his fame; and that of present-day anthropologist Hugh Kellem and Darwin scholar Beth Dulicmer, whose obsession with Darwin (and with each other) drives them beyond the accepted boundaries of scholarly research. What Hugh and Beth discoverLizzies diaries and letters lead them to a hidden chapter of Darwins autobiographyis a maze of bitter rivalries, petty deceptions, and jealously guarded secrets, at the heart of which lies the birth of the theory of evolution.
With The Darwin Conspiracy, John Darnton again delivers a stunning tapestry of history and imagination, a galvanizing novel. [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'Darwin's Finches'
David Lack's classic work on the finches of the Galapagos Islands (Darwin's Finches) was first published in 1947; few books have had such a great impact on evolutionary biology, indeed it is still one of the most succinct and fascinating treatises ever written about the origin of new species. The 1947 version is reproduced with facsimile pages of the original text, tables and line illustrations. The major feature of this reprint is the additional material supplied by Dr Peter Boag and Dr Laurene Ratcliffe who have both completed studies on the Galapagos. The readership will comprise students of evolution and ecology and those interested in the history of evolutionary thought. Amateur ornithologists and tourists visiting the Galapagos Islands will find this account fascinating. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Enchanted Isles'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Evolution of Jane'
› Find signed collectible books: 'Evolution's Workshop: God and Science on the Galapagos Islands'
When Europeans first explored the Galapagos Islands, a rugged archipelago 650 miles off the coast of Ecuador, they were astounded by the forbidding landscape and the odd behavior of the animals and plants they found there. "The place is like a new creation," wrote ship captain George Anson, a nephew of the poet Lord Byron. "The birds and beasts do not get out of our way; the pelicans and sea-lions look in our faces as if we had no right to intrude on their solitude; the small birds are so tame that they hop upon our feet; and all this amidst volcanoes which are burning around us on either hand."
Others who followed, like the onetime sailor and writer Herman Melville, took a dimmer view, calling the place "evilly enchanted ground." Whatever the sentiment, the Galapagos attracted generations of scientists, who, following the example of Charles Darwin, traveled there to test theories of speciation, adaptation, migration, and selection. Their work in the field helped overturn the prevailing orthodoxies of special creation, writes Edward J. Larson in his vigorous history of the islands and their role in the development of modern biological science. Their work also changed the face of the islands themselves, as hundreds and thousands of plants and animals were killed or removed for collections far afield, with a single expedition taking more than 10,000 birds and skins.
Today, the islands face other threats, as tens of thousands of ecotourists travel there each year, disturbing sensitive environments, and as alien plant and animal species are introduced. Still, Larson notes at the close of his fine book, "the archipelago's ecosystem has proved surprisingly resilient in the past," and conservation measures may yet be found to preserve the islands' "age-old solitude." --Gregory McNamee [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Field Guide to the Birds of the Galapagos'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Footprint Ecuador & Galapagos'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Galapagos'
Galapagos takes the reader back one million years, to A.D. 1986. A simple vacation cruise suddenly becomes an evolutionary journey. Thanks to an apocalypse, a small group of survivors stranded on the Galapagos Islands are about to become the progenitors of a brave new, and totally different human race. Here, America's master satirist looks at our world and shows us all that is sadly, madly awry -- and all that is worth saving. [via]

› Find signed collectible books: 'Galapagos'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Galapagos Diary: A Complete Guide to the Archipelago's Birdlife'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Galapagos: Key Environments'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Galapagos: The Lost Paradise'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Galapagos/300854'
The human survivors of the "Nature Crisis of the Century", are quietly evolving into sleek, furry creatures with flippers and small brains. All other forms of humankind have ceased to exist, made redundant by their prized big brains. From the author of "Slaughterhouse 5". [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology: Of the Countries Visited during the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle Round the World, under the Command of Capt Fitz Roy, R.N.'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Live Travel Guide to Quito, Ecuador And the Galapagos Islands'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Lonely Planet Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands'
Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands are covered in this comprehensive travel guide, designed for all budgets. Features of the text include: over 50 detailed regional and city maps; information on Ecuador's national parks and reserves; and background essays on wildlife, geography, people and places. Advice on accommodation, eating and travelling around is also provided. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Lonely Planet Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Moon Handbooks South Pacific'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'My Father's Island: A Galapagos Quest'
Angermeyer set off for the Galapagos Islands to attempt to solve a mystery about her father's death. Like her father, she came to love the Galapagos and to dream of having a life there. Her experience was filled with the perils and incomparable pleasures of living on the Galapagos. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Naturalist's Voyage Round the World in H.M.S. Beagle'
After having been twice driven back by heavy south-western gales, Her Majesty's ship "Beagle," a ten-gun brig, under the command of Captain Fitz Roy, R.N., sailed from Devonport on the 27th of December, 1831. The object of the expedition was to complete the survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, commenced under Captain King in 1826 to 1830--to survey the shores of Chile, Peru, and of some islands in the Pacific--and to carry a chain of chronometrical measurements round the World. On the 6th of January we reached Teneriffe, but were prevented landing, by fears of our bringing the cholera: the next morning we saw the sun rise behind the rugged outline of the Grand Canary Island, and suddenly illumine the Peak of Teneriffe, whilst the lower parts were veiled in fleecy clouds. This was the first of many delightful days never to be forgotten. On the 16th of January 1832 we anchored at Porto Praya, in St. Jago, the chief island of the Cape de Verd archipelago.
[via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Noticing Paradise'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Origin'
The origin: a biographical novel of Charles Darwin by Irving Stone; ed. by Jean Stone Publisher: New York : New American Library, 2002 ISBN: 0451168100 [via]

› Find signed collectible books: 'Parts Unknown: A Naturalist's Journey in Search of Birds and Wild Places'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'South Pacific Handbook'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World'
When Rita Golden Gelman traveled to Mexico during a two-month separation from her husband, she hoped to satisfy an old craving for adventure and, in the process, rejuvenate herself and her marriage. Little did she know it was the beginning of a new life, not just as a divorcée, but as a nomad of the world. Since 1986, Gelman has had no permanent address and no possessions except those she can carry. She travels without a plan, guided by instinct, serendipitous opportunities, and a remarkable ability to connect with people. At first her family and friends accused her of running away, but Gelman knew she had embarked on a journey of self-discovery and a way of life that is inspiring and enviable.
We know Gelman is not your typical middle-aged housewife from LA when, on that first trip to Mexico, she randomly picks a Zapotec village and decides to live there for a month, knowing nothing about the culture or the language. When she arrives, the villagers run away from her, terrified. By the time she leaves, there are hugs and tears. From there she travels to Guatemala and Nicaragua, Israel and the Galapagos Islands. But the heart of the book--and her 15-year journey--is Indonesia, where she lives for eight years. It is Bali that forever changes how she looks at the world, facilitated by her friendship with an aging prince. Tu Aji not only invites her to live with his family but decides that the education of Rita will be his final duty in life. Wherever she goes, Gelman has an uncanny ability to slip into other ways of life and become part of a community. And she is a person for whom doors open widely--her seatmate on the plane to Bali scrawls the prince's name on a piece of paper, she talks her way into a sojourn at Camp Leakey in Borneo where orangutans are studied, and an entire village in a remote part of Irian Jaya prays for the clouds to clear so her plane can land--and they do! Gelmen's secret is her passion for people. That being the case, the book is short on descriptions of place, but long on the rarer inside view of the peoples and customs of those places. This in itself is treat enough, but Gelman's animated and intimate story comes with a kicker--it's never too late to fulfill those dreams. --Lesley Reed [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Voyage of Charles Darwin'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Voyage of the Beagle'
Charles Darwin's father at first refused to allow his 22-year-old son to go on this voyage around the world in 1831-1836: he felt it was not a wise career choice. Fortunately, his father relented, and we have Darwin's journal, which may be the greatest scientific travel narrative ever written. Revised by the author in 1860, this is an account of his experiences on the Beagle, which led to his formulation of the theory of evolution. He was able to observe coral reefs, fossil-filled rocks, earthquakes, and more, first-hand, and made his own deductions. Original (of course) and entertaining! [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Voyage of the Beagle'
Inviting in its lavish detail, this is Darwin's fascinating account of his five-year journey aboard the Royal Navy ship HMS Beagle (1831-1836) as it surveyed the coasts of South America, New Zealand, Australia, and the now famous Galapagos Archipelago. One of the most important voyages of the 19th century, this is where Darwin made the observations that led to his theory of evolution by means of natural selection, which emerged two decades later. The Voyage of the Beagle (1840-43) has delighted and enlightened millions because of Darwin's loving and insightful observations of the plants, animals, people, and locations he explored. These journals provide striking examples of the great scientist's reasoning ability and intriguing glimpses into his thought processes. They are the precursor to The Descent of Man (1871, 1874), a controversial leap in evolutionary theory from nature to humanity. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Voyage of the Beagle: Charles Darwin's Journal of Researches'
"The Voyage of the Beagle" is Charles Darwin's account of the momentous voyage which set in motion the current of intellectual events leading to "The Origin of Species". This "Penguin Classics" edition is edited with an introduction and notes by Janet Brown and Michael Neve. When HMS Beagle sailed out of Devonport on 27 December 1831, Charles Darwin was twenty-two and setting off on the voyage of a lifetime. His journal, here reprinted in a shortened form, shows a naturalist making patient observations concerning geology, natural history, people, places and events. Volcanoes in the Galapagos, the Gossamer spider of Patagonia and the Australasian coral reefs - all are to be found in these extraordinary writings. The insights made here were to set in motion the intellectual currents that led to the theory of evolution, and the most controversial book of the "Victorian age: The Origin of Species". This volume reprints Charles Darwin's journal in a shortened form. In their introduction Janet Brown and Michael Neve provide a background to Darwin's thought and work, and this edition also includes notes, maps, appendices and an essay on scientific geology and the Bible by Robert FitzRoy, Darwin's friend and Captain of the Beagle. Charles Darwin (1809-82), a Victorian scientist and naturalist, has become one of the most famous figures of science to date. The advent of "On the Origin of Species" by means of natural selection in 1859 challenged and contradicted all contemporary biological and religious beliefs. If you enjoyed "The Voyage of the Beagle", you might enjoy Darwin's "On the Origin of Species", also available in "Penguin Classics". [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Voyage of the Beagle: Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries Visited During the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle Round the World'
In 1831, Charles Darwin embarked on an expedition that, in his own words, determined my whole career. The Voyage of the Beagle chronicles his five-year journey around the world and especially the coastal waters of South America as a naturalist on the H.M.S. Beagle. While traveling through these unexplored countries collecting specimens, Darwin began to formulate the theories of evolution and natural selection realized in his master work, The Origin of Species. Travel memoir and scientific primer alike, The Voyage of the Beagle is a lively and accessible introduction to the mind of one of history's most influential thinkers. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Wildlife of the Galapagos'
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