Nature
Book Review: The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
(out of 5 stars)
Having found that I'm hopelessly addicted to popular science books, especially those dealing with evolution, natural selection, and other wonders of biology, I promised myself that I'd pick up this foundational classic at some point. So much of what I had known previously about Origin was from reading the works of Dawkins, Quammen, and others, and I felt it was vitally important to take up Darwin's masterpiece and see for myself what he had to say. It is quite safe to say it was an excellent decision, and Origin stands up just as well in 2009 as it did when it was published 150 years ago.
Darwin's enthusiasm for the natural world comes through strongly on every page. I can easily imagine him sitting in his workshop, encouraging me, the reader, to see what he sees, to notice the details he explains with such passion. And he does not skip the scientific data. Darwin's arguments are strongly based on observation, experimentation, and an amazing convergence of multiple disciplines. Throughout the book, the reader feels he might be sitting in a room while Darwin leads a fascinating exhibition with the help of eminent biologists, zoologists, geologists, anthropologists, naturalists, and others.
I especially loved reading Darwin's original words dealing with biogeography and the migration of life. It is stunning just how prescient he was in so many things which he admits freely are greatly educated guesses. Sure, there are places where his thoughts were later shown incomplete or erroneous, but the vast bulk of his thoughts showed keen insight that often took many decades of research to prove correct. Darwin was quite literally one of the very few fundamental thinkers to ever risk putting his thoughts into writing, and his work is even more impressive given how little was known about genetics at the time by anyone but the largely-unknown Gregor Mendel.
While the book is quite dense at times, it is well worth the reader's effort to push through and experience this book's amazing insights. Darwin's enthusiasm is infective, and I think any reader of science who is interested in reading the classics should take the time to read and enjoy this groundbreaking and fascinating work. Five big stars.
Don't Piss Off a Mockingbird
There has been speculation for many decades about whether non-human animals were capable of identifying specific members of another species. In what may be the first published account of this ability, biology professor Doug Levy, study leader, proclaims that an investigation of mockingbird behavior shows the birds capable of identifying humans how had previously visited their nests (and thus, agitated the birds).
Mockingbirds can remember people who have threatened them and even start dive-bombing them if they see the person again, a study has found.
An urban population of the songbirds ignored most passers-by, but took to the air when they recognised people who had approached their nest days before.
When the birds spotted a previous offender, they started screeching and set off to harass the person with swooping dives, at times grazing the tops of their heads.
The extraordinary behaviour, reported in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is thought to be the first published account of wild animals in their natural setting recognising individuals of another species.
The Happy Face Spider
This is a new one to me, its official name is Theridion grallator, but how can you avoid thinking of it as the happy face spider.
It is under-threat of extinction in the rainforests of the Hawaiian island chain in the Pacific.
Dr Geoff Oxford, a spider expert from the University of York, said: "I must admit when I turned over the first leaf and saw one it certainly brought a smile to my face.
"There are various theories as to why the spider has developed the markings it has, one of these that it may be to confuse predators." Telegraph - How About That
