The Monkey's Voyage: How Improbable Journeys Shaped the History of Life 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by Alan de Queiroz (Author)

43 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0465020515

ISBN-10: 0465020518

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How did species wind up where they are today? Scientists have long conjectured that plants and animals dispersed throughout the world by drifting on large landmasses as they broke up, but in The Monkey's Voyage, biologist Alan de Queiroz offers a radical new theory that displaces this passive view. He describes how species as diverse as monkeys, baobab trees, and burrowing lizards made incredible long-distance ocean crossings: pregnant animals and wind-blown plants rode rafts and icebergs and even stowed away on the legs of sea-going birds to create the map of life we see today. In the tradition of John McPhee's Basin and Range and David Quammen's The Song of the Dodo, The Monkey's Voyage is a beautifully told narrative of a profound investigation into the importance of contingency in history and the nature of scientific discovery.

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Product details

File Size: 12579 KB
Print Length: 370 pages
Publisher: Basic Books; 1 edition (January 7, 2014)
Publication Date: January 7, 2014
Language: English
ASIN: B00H1YPUWQ
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

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Lending: Not Enabled
Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled

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Life Finds a Way:

March 1, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

If you've ever wondered why certain plants or animals live where they do, then this marvelous book may give you new insights on how, and when, they got there. In "The Monkey's Voyage" author Alan de Queiroz helps you explore the history and current theories in Biogeography and Evolutionary Biology. Although there are some technical parts the book, for the most part, is layman friendly for anyone who has, at least, high school Biology under their belts. Different parts of the world share similar environments but are all protected from invasion by some sort of barrier; a mountain range, a major river, or the sea itself, among others. How does life breach these barriers? Do these barriers change over time and what causes them anyway? Throughout history scientists have sought to explain how related organisms managed to end up in different parts of the world. At first they envisioned a network of land-bridges that connected various parts of the world but that got kinda awkward when trying to explain places like the Hawaiian archipelago or the Atlantic Ocean. For a while it seemed like Continental Drift might save the day, but even Plate Tectonics had some problems. Long range dispersal by wind or ocean currents was an option, but that met with a lot of resistance from the scientific "old guard". Queiroz traces the changing fortunes of various theories and explains how each one might fit into the big picture. Along the way he will introduce you to different dating-technics like the Molecular Clock and the, often incomplete, fossil record. Queiroz's writing style is straight foreword and easy to follow as he travels the world and consults with other specialists on each issue. To some extent the controversies continue to this day but it looks like some sort of consensus is at last possible, or not! The book has several charts and graphs to illustrate different concepts as well photos from different sources, including the author. For me "The Monkey's Voyage" was an exceptional read, filled with fresh ideas and eye opening thoughts on one of Biology's biggest mysteries. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an open, but skeptical, mind. You may find it as entertaining as I did. I had no technical or downloading problems with this Kindle edition.

Last Ranger

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Offers valuable insights regarding biogeography and the culture of science

March 26, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I applaud the author for his graceful candor! As an ecologist I found it an excellent treatise on the growth of biogeography as a discipline. I have the kindle version, thereby making it easy to take notes and share insights with colleagues.

For those who are considering a career in science or anyone interested in the culture of science, this book provides useful examples of how individuals establish fiefdoms that adversely affect the elegance that science research can be.

Comment

Michael A. Strem

Science, humor & humanity mix

January 18, 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

de Queiroz managed to make what could have been a very dry book one that was not just informative, but interesting. I especially liked the way he brought his family relationships into the story. I look forward to greeting him at our Lahontan Birds & Book group here in Reno. His dedication is only rivaled by his sense of humor. As I read this, I also began "The Sixth Extinction" and find it interesting that there are so many intersections.

One person found this helpful

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Lively and Informative

July 8, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is a very well-written and interesting book on a topic that may not be on the top of everybody’s list for the day but is nonetheless well worth spending time on.

The general field of the book is that of biogeography – the science of how life forms that we observe today got to be where they are on the globe. The scientific explanations fall into two main classes: Those that use the movement of tectonic plates as the primary mechanism (called vicariance) and those that appeal to rare and improbable long distance dispersal mechanisms, such as chance ocean transport by naturally occurring rafts of vegetation. Throughout the later part of the 20th Century, vicariance explanations were dominant. More recently, long distance dispersal has become more widely accepted, although not to the exclusion of vicariance.

Professor Queiroz presents the story of how this change occurred from two points of view: The scientific evidence and the associated cultural changes in the scientific community. The predominant and compelling new evidence comes from DNA analysis which has provided clearer ancestral relationships and more reliable dates, some of which are inconsistent with a purely vicariance approach.

If all this sounds a little dry and overspecialized, in Professor Queiroz’s hands it sparkles with life and enthusiasm. He covers the full range of multicellular life from plants and insects to large mammals and discusses implications that range from the detailed to the philosophical.

After reading this book, I not only have a better understanding of biogeography but I also have renewed confidence in the scientific process which, over time, is able to correct human irrationality and keep heading towards the truth. In this, science is unique: That is why it is so important.

3 people found this helpful

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Not for the biology novice

May 14, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is a book of potential interest to students of evolutionary biology and, more generally, the history if science and the scientific process. If you've ever wondered how it came about that closely related species of plants and animals can be found in widely separated parts of the world (like monkeys in both Africa and South America), The Monkey's Voyage will guide you along the path taken by the great scientists (Charles Darwin, Ernst Mayr, and others) who have attempted to answer to that very question. In so doing, they created the discipline now known as biogeography. It's a story rich in fascinating anecdotes and biologic curiosities which de Queiroz shares generously. de Queiroz writes with lucidity and style. These upsides notwithstanding, readers without a grounding in the sciences may find parts of this book rather dense. And unless your hunger to understand biogeography is voracious, you may find yourself overstuffed, for de Queiroz spares no detail. My rating for the book is reader-specific. For a dedicated biology watcher, I'd give it 4-plus stars. For the more casual reader, I'd award it 3-plus.

3 people found this helpful

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