The Darwin Archipelago

Starred review from May 16, 2011
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.

Starred review from April 15, 2011
Published under another title in Britain in 2009 for the Darwin bicentenary, Jones survey of the influence of Darwins 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 Darwins 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 and intelligence of plants, barnacles, the war between plants and animals (especially flowers and bees), and the work of wormseach 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)