The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time is a non-fiction book that explores the theory of evolution written by Jonathan Weiner. It was published in 1994 and won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction the following year.
The book follows the endeavors of the two biologists Peter and Rosemary Grant over 30 years corroborating Darwin’s theory of evolution. The basis of their research was the passerine birds from the Galapagos Islands –termed Darwin’s finches or Galapagos. To further Darwin’s view that species are not immutable, the Grants studied the birds in their habitat as they adapted rapidly to ecological changes. Weiner documents their efforts that would later be utilized by scientists in the 1990s to examine the evolutionary patterns through DNA sequencing technology.
Peter and Rosemary Grant were also awarded by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia with the Leidy Award in 1994. The New York Times Book Review states that the book is “Admirable and much-needed . . . superb at explaining very complex scientific and philosophical concepts in lucid prose. . . . Weiner’s triumph is to reveal how evolution and science work, and to let them speak clearly for themselves.”
