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Galápagos: A Natural History
The Gal�pagos Islands are a paradise for birders, botanists, geologists, and snorkelers, with many islands still devoid of human habitation. Since they lie more than 600 miles west of South America and were never connected to the mainland, almost all plant and animal life arrived here by chance. As Charles Darwin discovered, the evolution of plants and animals is more visible here than anywhere else on earth.
John Kricher, a renowned ecologist and Gal�pagos ecotour guide, presents a detailed natural history of this spectacular archipelago. He looks at the amazing diversity of life found here, from iguanas to penguins, and explains the fascinating geology of these remote islands. Throughout his narrative, Kricher weaves the intriguing history of evolutionary biology that is intimately connected with the islands, and describes Darwin's adventures and observations while he was visiting in 1835.
Indeed, Kricher takes his chapter titles from comments scattered throughout Darwin's account of his expedition around the world, The Voyage of the Beagle. Kricher closes his book by assessing the conservation efforts to preserve the Gal�pagos--and the challenges these efforts have met. Of special interest is the book's richly detailed island-by-island guide. For both the ecotraveler and the nature enthusiast, Gal�pagos is essential reading.
Essential reading for the nature enthusiast and ecotraveler alike
Detailed island-by-island guide
Vivid descriptions of plant and animal life
Fascinating explanation of the islands' geology
John Kricher, a renowned ecologist and Gal�pagos ecotour guide, presents a detailed natural history of this spectacular archipelago. He looks at the amazing diversity of life found here, from iguanas to penguins, and explains the fascinating geology of these remote islands. Throughout his narrative, Kricher weaves the intriguing history of evolutionary biology that is intimately connected with the islands, and describes Darwin's adventures and observations while he was visiting in 1835.
Indeed, Kricher takes his chapter titles from comments scattered throughout Darwin's account of his expedition around the world, The Voyage of the Beagle. Kricher closes his book by assessing the conservation efforts to preserve the Gal�pagos--and the challenges these efforts have met. Of special interest is the book's richly detailed island-by-island guide. For both the ecotraveler and the nature enthusiast, Gal�pagos is essential reading.
Essential reading for the nature enthusiast and ecotraveler alike
Detailed island-by-island guide
Vivid descriptions of plant and animal life
Fascinating explanation of the islands' geology
256 pages, Paperback
First published September 20, 2002
3 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
John C. Kricher
35 books5 followersJohn C. Kricher, Professor of Biology, Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 4, 2023
Helpful for our trip to the Galapagos but felt like a bunch of Wikipedia pages interspersed w great nature photography. Way too focused on birds (which admittedly are amazing there) and gives short shrift to the other animals (tortoises, iguanas, sea lions, etc).
March 1, 2015
Packed with information about the Galapagos, this dense volume has very little whitespace and just a few small color photos. While the wildlife photos are excellent, it is difficult, for example, to get the idea of the Santa Cruz island humid forest in a 1.5” x 2.5” image. There are a few additional black and white images of birds, which are good illustrations, and of landscapes, which are less so. The language is highly scientific, and at the same time somewhat wordy and whimsical. In the sections about island wildlife, this odd combination works well, perhaps because the sections are clearly broken into distinct animals/ideas. For the overall view of the island, the dense text felt a bit overwhelming to me, and I tended to skim and skip through those chapters. However, other readers might like this style, with plenty of details packed into a small space. Here’s an example paragraph, preliminary text to introducing Darwin’s work in the Galapagos:
“Once a static geology was replaced by a dynamic geology, it followed directly that organisms must be periodically faced with some difficult challenges. There’s no two ways about it. Given that organisms seem so clearly, indeed elegantly, adapted to the habitats in which they reside (one of the original linchpins of the creationist view), what happens to them when their habitats change and the ecological rug gets pulled out from under them? Good question, but awkward for those who embraced the idea that while Earth itself might change, species had been individually designed, shaped immutably by a creator for their various and specific roles in nature. Logic dictates that once a habitat changes, its resident plants and animals are no longer as well adapted...Lyell thought that they might simply become extinct and that somehow new species, each well adapted to the changed environment, would be quietly and miraculously created by God to replace those who became victims of the geologic, hence ecologic, change. Even the notion of extinction was not generally accepted until well into the nineteenth century. Thomas Jefferson, for example, refused to believe that any species could become extinct. Such calamity would reflect badly on the Creator. Darwin had a better idea.”
Two excellent features of the book are the complete Galapagos map and the island-by-island description of the well-known and not-so-well-known islands. Elevations, geology, physical environment, wildlife, settlements, and landing areas/anchorages are described. This is a valuable resource for those planning to visit the islands, particularly if they want to increase the likelihood of seeing specific animals or environments. Different ecotours visit different islands, and this book will inform the traveler’s choice between tours to maximize exposure to the wildlife, environmental surroundings, and amount of physical activity that the traveler wishes to experience.
“Once a static geology was replaced by a dynamic geology, it followed directly that organisms must be periodically faced with some difficult challenges. There’s no two ways about it. Given that organisms seem so clearly, indeed elegantly, adapted to the habitats in which they reside (one of the original linchpins of the creationist view), what happens to them when their habitats change and the ecological rug gets pulled out from under them? Good question, but awkward for those who embraced the idea that while Earth itself might change, species had been individually designed, shaped immutably by a creator for their various and specific roles in nature. Logic dictates that once a habitat changes, its resident plants and animals are no longer as well adapted...Lyell thought that they might simply become extinct and that somehow new species, each well adapted to the changed environment, would be quietly and miraculously created by God to replace those who became victims of the geologic, hence ecologic, change. Even the notion of extinction was not generally accepted until well into the nineteenth century. Thomas Jefferson, for example, refused to believe that any species could become extinct. Such calamity would reflect badly on the Creator. Darwin had a better idea.”
Two excellent features of the book are the complete Galapagos map and the island-by-island description of the well-known and not-so-well-known islands. Elevations, geology, physical environment, wildlife, settlements, and landing areas/anchorages are described. This is a valuable resource for those planning to visit the islands, particularly if they want to increase the likelihood of seeing specific animals or environments. Different ecotours visit different islands, and this book will inform the traveler’s choice between tours to maximize exposure to the wildlife, environmental surroundings, and amount of physical activity that the traveler wishes to experience.
March 29, 2011
This is a thorough and entertaining description of the geology, natural history, flora and fauna of the Galapagos. Kricher expalins how the theory of natural selection was developed by Darwin as he pondered his data back in England with specialists from different fields.
October 25, 2014
I'll give this book four stars for the content, which is exhaustive and highly interesting. I think they made a mistake not to include more photography - the Galapagos Islands and associated wildlife are ideal subjects for a good photographer.
May 29, 2015
Did not love it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews