The Darwin archipelago : the naturalist's career beyond Origin of species /

Jones (Univ. College London, UK), a geneticist and evolutionary biologist, attempts to correct "the widespread" public belief that Charles Darwin's voyage on HMS Beagle marked the end of his career as an active research scientist. Jones furnishes much evidence to the contrary to support the idea that Darwin conducted considerable research and published many books after publication of the Origin (1859) on topics not included there. His Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871) discusses how animals exert themselves in mating, a force in evolution (sexual selection) as formidable as the struggle to stay alive (natural selection). Darwin was a pioneer in many branches of biology and became a better scientist as he grew older, testing many of his ideas with carefully designed experiments. His home at Down served as a veritable laboratory, and he had a greenhouse built where he conducted experiments with plants. Jones also cites Darwin's subsequent work on barnacles, done partially to test his ideas about the dangers of inbreeding; i.e., later in his career, he questioned "cousin matrimony," a practice common among the English upper classes. This work holds much appeal for scientists as well as nonscientists. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty; general readers. J. S. Schwartz emeritus, CUNY College of Staten Island

*Starred Review* Published under another title in Britain in 2009 for the Darwin bicentenary, Jones' survey of the influence of Darwin's other 11 scientific books besides The Origin of Species is strictly a Johnny-come-lately this side the pond. Popular-science readers should welcome it warmly, nonetheless. Each chapter notes Darwin's achievement in a particular field, where his findings and the questions he raised spurred other researchers to go, and what current knowledge of the field is and indicates. Human evolution, carnivorous plants, the expression of emotions, breeding in plants and animals, domestication of plants (especially corn) and animals (especially dogs), the movements an. intelligenc. of plants, barnacles, th. wa. between plants and animals (especially flowers and bees), and the work of worms each gets a chapter. Packing the book with fascination, Jones establishes the continuing importance of Darwin more firmly than have most of the other recent books on him. In conclusion, Jones discusses how much in terms of lost species and genetic homogenization the world has changed since Darwin, so that now he is a cautionary prophet as well as the preeminent sage of life on Earth. Completely enthralling.--Olson, Ra. Copyright 2010 Booklist

In his fascinating and accessible new book, Jones (Darwin's Ghost: The Origin of Species Updated) sets out to dispel a "parody of the truth" that Darwin "retired into obscurity" after the 1859 publication of Origin of Species as an "almost forgotten savant who...had done his most important work as a young man." Jones deftly illustrates how Darwin's scientific investigations after Origin of Species actually laid the foundation for experimental biology, and are supported and developed by modern work on genetics and DNA. Jones, who has written widely on the famous naturalist, examines the eight years (one sixth of his entire career) that Darwin devoted to a study of the barnacle, providing the basis for later investigations into the workings of the human middle ear. With amazing clarity Jones explains how genes, embryos, the fossils of fish, and other evolutionary elements illuminate shared components between the ear and the sense organs of barnacles. This is one example of many (earthworms, insect-eating plants, the expression of joy or despair in dogs) that the author provides in order to show how "the power of small means, given time, to produce gigantic ends." Jones's ability to dissect complex ideas with verve and wit creates an absorbing and unusually entertaining look at the sweep of Darwin's vision. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.