Darwin's finches: readings in the evolution of a scientific paradigm.

Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011.
Octavo, paperback, 492 pp. illustrations, line drawings, maps.

Two species come to mind when one thinks of the Galapagos Islands - the giant tortoises and Darwin's fabled finches. While not as immediately captivating as the tortoises, these little brown songbirds and their beaks have become one of the most familiar and charismatic research systems in biology, providing generations of natural historians and scientists a lens through which to view the evolutionary process and its role in morphological differentiation. In this book, Donohue excerpts and collects the most illuminating and scientifically significant writings on the finches of the Galapagos to teach the fundamental principles of evolutionary theory and to provide a historical record of scientific debate. Also available in hardcover [stock id 32634].