Kaitlyn Baker
Staff Writer
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dr. Jonathan Weiner kicked off the W. David Baird Distinguished Lecture Series by describing his experience studying the evolution of finches on the Galapagos Islands.
Weiner spent three weeks in the Galapagos Islands with biologist David Anderson and was able to observe first-hand how the evolutionary process is not as gradual as Charles Darwin may have supposed.
While in the Galapagos Islands, Weiner followed the project of Anderson’s former teachers, biologist couple Peter and Rosemary Grant. The project was to observe evolutionary patterns in finches.
Weiner’s observations on the island fueled the stories in his novel “The Beach of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time.” It won a Pulitzer Prize in 1995.
Weiner spent two years studying the Grants’ work before they agreed to let him come to the Galapagos Islands to see first-hand what their research entailed.
“They were on to something really extraordinary with this study,” Weiner said.
Peter and Rosemary live with their two daughters on Daphne Major, a tiny island in the Galapagos Islands. Since the island is mostly untouched by humans, it is a prime spot for scientific observation.
The Grants have studied the evolutionary patterns of finches on Daphne Major for 35 years. They have tracked each generation of finches since 1973, observing the effects of natural selection and adaptation, which led to major changes in the different species of finches. Weiner’s time with the Grants allowed him to see these characteristics of evolution happening in detail.
“I’m here to write this story,” Weiner recalled thinking. “Up until now, I was just hunting and pecking.”
Weiner graduated from Harvard with a degree in English, and following graduation he spent a year doing freelance work for newspapers and magazines. One article he wrote, entitled “Marching Along with the Social Amoeba,” inspired him to pursue his passion for scientific writing.
“I thought, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ And I’ve been marching along with that social amoeba ever since,” Weiner said.
Weiner described the Grants’ work as “one of the best stories that I ever came across in that pursuit [of scientific knowledge].” He spoke of topics such as evolution by natural and sexual selection, adaptive radiation and how environmental changes affect the finches.
Despite his work on the Galapagos Islands, Weiner admitted that he is a writer, not a biologist. Weiner’s writings includes “Planet Earth,” and “His Brother’s Keeper.”
Dr. Weiner’s writings are important because they present scientific explanations in a way that can be understood by both scientists and non-scientists alike, according to biology professor Rodney Honeycutt.
“Through such writers as Jonathan Weiner, we can learn to appreciate the enterprise of science, which attempts to explain the natural, rather than the supernatural, world,” Honeycutt said. “I feel that his writings also help diminish some of the confusion that is created by a lack of knowledge regarding the activities and discoveries of science.”
At the end of the lecture, there was time for questions and answers. One student asked: “Do you believe the earth was created in seven days?” He referred the student to talk to a theologian.
Because Weiner’s wife majored in religious studies and he wrote about evolution, there were deep discussions between them, while Weiner worked on “The Beak of the Finch.” Even so, Weiner acknowledged that there is more than one view of life, which is why he reads the Bible every morning to learn about his wife’s perspective. He said they can overcome their differences in the same way that Darwin resolved his differences with his wife Emma, who was also a Christian.
09-18-2008