Galápagos: A Natural History. Rev. ed.

Victor Clulow is a zoology professor at Laurentian University.

It is a brave soul who embarks on creating yet another natural history
guide to one of the world’s most famous sites. The author and his
supporting team of researchers and editors took up this challenge and
successfully produced an attractive, informative, and reasonably priced
volume that will appeal to academics and tourists alike.

There are chapters on the historical and environmental settings
(including descriptions of the islands’ location and geological past);
on colonization, evolution, and ecology; and on the major groupings of
organisms living on some or all of the islands or in the seas around
them. There are good, clear illustrations, excellent text and tables,
and proper use of scientific terminology. Technical terms are explained
in a well-written glossary at the end of the book. The author’s superb
color plates make a pleasing change from the stock photos so often seen
in books on the Galбpagos.

The book contains useful sections covering the rules of the Galбpagos
National Park, along with tips for the visitor on such matters as time
allocation, footwear, sun protection, and so on. The select
bibliography, with listings as recent as 1992, is wide-ranging and
detailed in its coverage of original research papers and monographs. Not
surprisingly, Charles Darwin’s works loom large in this book. It is a
reflection of the high quality of Jackson’s writing that it holds its
own against the judiciously chosen quotations from Darwin.