
- 312 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
The extraordinary life story of the celebrated naturalist who transformed our understanding of evolution
Enchanted by Daphne is legendary ecologist Peter Grant's personal account of his remarkable life and career. In this revelatory book, Grant takes readers from his childhood in World War IIāera Britain to his ongoing research today in the GalĆ”pagos archipelago, vividly describing what it's like to do fieldwork in one of the most magnificent yet inhospitable places on Earth. This is also the story of two brilliant and courageous biologists raising a family together while balancing the demands of professional lives that would take them to the far corners of the globe.
In 1973, Grant and his wife, Rosemary, embarked on a journey that would fundamentally change how we think about evolution. Over the next four decades, they visited the GalĆ”pagos every year to observe Darwin's famous finches on the remote, uninhabited island of Daphne Major. Documenting how eighteen species have diversified from a single ancestral species, they demonstrated that we could actually see and measure evolution in a natural setting. Grant recounts the blind alleys and breathtaking triumphs of this historic research as he and Rosemary followed in Darwin's footstepsāand ushered in a new era in ecology.
A wonderfully absorbing portrait of a life in science, Enchanted by Daphne is an unforgettable chronicle of the travels and discoveries of one of the world's most influential naturalists.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- 1. Daphne
- 2. Childhood: A Kaleidoscope of Memories
- 3. The Gift of Whitgift
- 4. Marking Time in National Service
- 5. Becoming Serious
- 6. Imprinting on Wild America
- 7. An Island Problem
- 8. Postdoctoral Interlude at Yale
- 9. McGill and Montreal
- 10. Of Mice and Birds
- 11. Evolution by Natural Selection
- 12. Michigan
- 13. From Michigan to Princeton
- 14. The Drama of El NiƱo
- 15. Uno Becomes Duo
- 16. In Search of DNA
- 17. First Experiences of Asia
- 18. New Discoveries on Daphne
- 19. Retirement
- 20. Celebrating Charles Darwin
- 21. End of Field Research on Daphne
- 22. An Epicurean Life
- 23. Hobbling in Hawaii and Becoming an American
- 24. Guests at the Top End
- 25. Begin with an Operation, End with a Medal
- 26. Finch Genes and a Return to GalƔpagos
- 27. In Praise of Old Nassau
- 28. And So to Lockdown
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgments
- Appendix
- References
- Subject Index
- Bird Index