Ecology and Evolution of Darwin's Finches

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing edition...but a classic nonetheless!
Review: As this book illustrates, there is no doubting the significance of Peter and Rosemary Grant's contributions to the field of evolutionary biology. The new edition is an instant "must have" for all current students of evolutionary biology by virtue of being a reprint of a genuine classic in the field. However, I was extremely disappointed to find the Grant's research of the intervening years between editions to be only briefly and incompletely addressed in the afterward. The more recent research of Peter Grant and colleagues is as interesting and significant as the earlier work covered in the first edition and deserved to be either fully incorporated into the original chapters or addressed as an entirely new series of chapters. One can only hope that the insufficient treatment of the last 14 years of research is a consequence of the Grants being hard at work on Ecology and Evolution of Darwin's Finches Volume 2!