galapagos | Evolution Literacy

Our “other volume” ARRIVALS OF LIFE TO THE GALÁPAGOS has been released.

Technically, this is Book One. The volume released back in March was Book Two [or A Synthesis of the Galápagos]. Both books are kin. Here is the publisher’s, Cambridge Scholars (United Kingdom), description of Arrivals of Life to the Galápagos: “…In this book, Guillermo Paz-y-Miño-C and Avelina Espinosa synthesize the events connecting the accidental discovery of the Galápagos Islands by Tomás de Berlanga in 1535 with Charles Darwin’s exploration of the archipelago in 1835, Herman Melville’s sketches of The Encantadas, or Enchanted Isles, of 1856, and the geopolitics to control Baltra Island, or “The Rock”, where the United States established a military base from 1942 to 1946, during World War II. These themes are intertwined with discussions about the historical cartography of the Galápagos Islands, the geology of the archipelago, the hypotheses about the origins of the Galápagos terrestrial and marine organisms, and comparisons between Galápagos and other archipelagos, particularly Hawai’i. Offering over 250 figures and diagrams, this work will appeal to a broad audience, including professors in academia, college instructors, study-abroad and international field-trip leaders (with destination Galápagos), science writers, and policymakers…”

Here is the book’s website.

Chapter One Charles Darwin, the Great Monsters, and a Little World within Itself (28 pp).

Chapter Two Adrift: A Tale of a Bishop and His Crew (20 pp).

Chapter Three Mapping the Bewitched: Silhouettes Visible from Space (29 pp).

Chapter Four Tectonics, Volcanoes, Lava Rocks, Caves, and Soils (59 pp).

Chapter Five The Arrivals of Life: Biogeographic Affinities, Taxa Older than the Islands, and Deep Ancestry (75 pp).

Chapter Six Moby-Dick and the Slaughtering of the Leviathans (58 pp).

Chapter Seven Baltra: World War II and the Geopolitics to Control “The Rock” (40 pp).

Chapter Eight Galápagos versus other Archipelagos (76 pp).

Chapter Nine Galápagos versus Hawai’i: Lessons to Never Forget (42 pp).

Chapter Ten Content of Companion Book “A Synthesis of the Galápagos” (5 pp).

For book’s website click HERE.

Our latest book has been released (BOOK’s WEBSITE).

Here is the publisher’s description:

“…There are hundreds of books and thousands of scientific articles about the Galápagos. This volume is distinctive. The authors, Guillermo Paz-y-Miño-C and Avelina Espinosa, synthesize, integrate, and conceptualize the most recent evolutionary-biology research being conducted in the archipelago’s terrestrial and aquatic environments; the conflicts resulting from human interactions with nature, including local population growth and tourism practices in the context of short- and long-term conservation efforts; and make predictions about the destiny of the Galápagos’ unique biodiversity and landscapes under various scenarios of climate-change impacts, urbanization trends, diversification of tourism, and conservation investments. Offering over 260 figures and diagrams, this work will appeal to a broad audience, including professors in academia, college instructors, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and research undergraduates. Another target audience is study-abroad and international field-trip instructors and their students who travel to the Galápagos year-round. Science writers and policymakers will find in this book useful information to discuss and debate about imminent environmental threats to afflict the Galápagos as a consequence of human population growth, tourism practices, and climate change…”

Chapter One Cacti on Rocky Grounds and Forests in the Highlands’ Mist (59 pp)

Chapter Two Crowded Shores, Murky Waters, and the Open Sea (84 pp)

Chapter Three Endemism, Rareness, and Endemic Creatures of the Isles (60 pp)

Chapter Four Microbes and Viruses, Always Present (94 pp)

Chapter Five Homo the Settler (34 pp)

Chapter Six Homo the Explorer, the Sightseer (32 pp)

Chapter Seven Homo the Caretaker (61 pp)

Chapter Eight Earth’s Wounds: Their Impact on the Fragile Islands (73 pp)

Chapter Nine The Destiny of an Archipelago (42 pp)

Chapter Ten Berlanga, Darwin, Melville, and Galápagos During World War II (3 pp)

For book’s website click HERE.