[.ca] Evolution's Workshop (ISBN 0465038115)

From Amazon.com:
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

Theory of Evolution Develops from Galapagos Experiences:
Mr. Larson has written one of the most interesting books about evolution and the Galapagos that it has been my happy experience to read. Although I have had the good fortune to visit the Galapagos and observe the animals and plants there, I had many missing segments in my understanding of how scientific thinking got from Charles Darwin to the work of the Grants that is so well displayed in The Beak of the Finch. This volume creates a nice overview for anyone who wants to know more about how our current understanding of evolution occurred or how any important new paradigm develops. Most people would not have noticed what Darwin did when he visited the Galapagos in 1835 on The Beagle. To make that point, Mr. Larson opens with many quotes from Melville's visit in 1841. Melville hated the place. "But the special curse . . . is that change never comes." Brief visitors often missed the dynamism of the environment because they only made brief stays. Having been there in both the dry and the rainy seasons, I can assure you that the islands are totally different in those two times of the year. And no two rainy seasons are all that similar. I was especially fascinated to see how much the economic usefulness of the islands affected how they were perceived. These are mostly desert islands with little fresh water in the dry season, and few are going there primarily to farm. The book has several threads. One looks at how perceptions of the islands have changed. Now, most would agree that they are a world treasure. Poor people from Ecuador are most eager to move there and develop their lives economically from fishing and serving the rapidly increasing numbers of eco-tourists. Another considers the impact that visits by man has had on the islands. Extinction has been more man-made than environment-made in the last 166 years. This has both been caused by farming, adding new species, and overusing the fragile resources there. A third dimension looks at the future of eco-tourism, and sees this as both a great risk and a potential saving grace from suffering the "tragedy of the commons." A fourth dimension is how research methods have changed to allow us to better understand evolution. As the Grants and others have shown, evolution occurs much more rapidly than Darwin ever imagined from the fossil records. Part of this is due to interspecies breeding that was not appreciated until recently. Also, environmental stress can cause sudden shifts in populations to favor the new conditions. The Grants' work with Darwin's finches (ironically, Darwin was more interested in mockingbirds) shows that you can get evolution away from a beak standard and back again in just a few years on an island as the food supply changes. I came away especially impressed by the need to do longitudinal studies, to have accurate samples and measurement, and to have careful evaluation of the data. Many errors cropped up in the thinking of both those who opposed the theory of evolution and those who developed it due to errors in one or more of these areas. The book is filled with a lot of subtle, dry humor. When you see juxtaposed views and experiences (which is quite often), assume that you are being invited to have a good laugh. The comparisons of Darwin and Melville in the beginning set that up for you. Keep looking for this humor through to the observations about sexual selection operating with the fashion models in the end. Even if you can never visit the Galapagos, you should realize that there is an important message that they contain for us all: Life can evolve in more peaceful and colorful ways even in a hostile environment. The birds and animals there do not run from you. The cacti do not have stickers to hurt you. The sexual colorings of males are truly amazing. How can we create and live in environments on earth that will make the best home for all life?

The Enchantment of Evolution:
Must reading for any Galapagos traveler or historian of science. Starting with a contrast of Melville's description of Galapagos as a hell and Darwin's own explorations, Larson traces the history of the idea of evolution, both scientifically and on popular thought. By focusing on the Galapagos, Larson provides a readable account of both how studies in the Galapagos shaped evolutionary thought (From Darwin to Lack to the Grants) but also how the social climate of the day, influenced the explorers, for example how the exuberance of Teddy Roosevelt, affected explorers of the day, or how Harvard zoologist Louis Agassiz influenced the California collecting spree. Larson also reflects on the effects of civilization on the Galapagos, from turtle collecting, to the World War II airstrip at Baltra, to current tensions between protection, locals, and harvest. Science has not always been on the side of protection, for example, "Save them for science" became the cry (at the turn of the last century), even if it meant capturing or killing the last on in the wild. The drawings and photographs complement the text, and include such treats as a photo of Louis Agassiz, sketches from Darwin, and a photo of 250 tortoise specimens in the California Academy of Sciences. I would also recommend Weiner's "The Beak of the Finch", and Darwin's "The Voyage of the Beagle" has a chapter on the Galapagos. Incidentally, the title of the book is probably derived from Darwin's own description of the Galapagos' volcanic hills and craters "From their regular form, they gave the country a workshop appearance".

Saving Lonesome George:
The history of a science can teach you much about the process of science and scientific thinking. Evolution marks the beginning of modern biological thought, and the Galapagos Islands played a major role in the development of evolutionary ideas. Edward Larson shows us how the archipelago was differently perceived by so many people from Melville and Darwin in the mid-1800s to later visitors up until the present day. While it would probably be confusing to learn about evolutionary theories from this book, Larson brings to light how some of those theories developed with respect to findings from the Galapagos. By doing this, one shares in the same act of discovery that has so enchanted the various researchers who have come to the islands. All the while, it is a wonderful read, and I highly recommend it those interested in a fascinating narrative about the history of evolution.

Goes beyond the usual examination of Darwinian theory:
Edward J. Larson's superbly presented Evolution's Workshop considers the Galapagos Islands, its history, and the nature of pre-evolutionary science on the islands. The history of top researchers' studies on the islands and their contribution to major scientific advancements makes for a specific type of history which goes beyond the usual examination of Darwinian theory alone.

A Benchmark in the History of Ideas:
If you have never read an account that made sense of Darwin's discovery of evolution as the only plausible explanation of what he found at the Galapagos islands, this is your book. The basic outlook with which he contended was Biblical literalism in a place we do not expect to find it. After all, did Sir Francis Bacon not establish the criterion of empiricism in science? In one crucial area, that of correctly naming all of nature's beings, he expected man to be able to name them all correctly, even as it had been in the Garden of Eden. Surprisingly, in England, the 18th and much of the 19th century continued his bias, which arises from a familiar blind spot for much of the English-speaking world, the Puritan Revolution. According to Bacon, man would also recover his Eden-based knowledge of the use of every plant and animal, could he but name them all. Since the Galapagos have no obviously useful animals, such as any quadruped mammals, the islands were considered not only worthless but almost evil. It took some intervening factors, such as whaling in the area, to open it up. Probably, as Larson suggests, the thinking that went into his theoretical structure for "Origin of Species" overwhelmed any more detailed derivation of his theory from his Galapagos data, an accident of history that has always added difficulty. Larson's ability to cover the gaps is the best I've seen. He also accepts the influence of Malthus on Darwin's formulation of the "how" of evolution in his theory's early development.