ebooks The Voyage of the Beagle: Darwin's Extraordinary Adventure aboard Fitroy's Famous Survey Ship by James Taylor in History

Review

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Foundation of a famous careerBy Joel B. KirkpatrickBook Review. From Baden bei Wien; Monday 24 August 2009James Taylor; Voyage of the Beagle; 2008; Naval Institute Press; AnnapolisKeep in mind Charles Darwin's principle of "Natural Selection" expressed in the Origin of Species; 1859: "...variations; however slight... if they be in any degree profitable... will tend to the preservation of such individuals and will generally be inherited..." But this book is set almost 30 years earlier. Darwin; son of a rich doctor; has tormented his sisters and collected bugs; loafing his way through elite public schools and Cambridge. But he has read widely; and impressed some of his professors that he had insight and "promise." He goes on a geology field trip to Wales with Adam Sedgwick. Meanwhile the British Navy sends its sailing vessels everywhere to enforce and extend the "Pax Britannica;" following the defeat of Napoleon. The Admiralty needs better coastal charts and maps and dispatches "surveys" for the necessary data. One of these is the HMS Beagle; a three-masted barque under Captain Robert FitzRoy; which departed on 27 Dec 1831 from Devonport; Plymouth; for South America. FitzRoy is a well-educated gentleman sea captain; and he wants someone of his class to talk to on the long voyage. Young Charles is selected to go along as the "naturalist and gentleman's companion." He dines with FitzRoy and sleeps in the "poop cabin" aft on the main deck. He has views of the sea and sky; room for books and instruments and shares use of a large drafting table. Darwin is an affable fellow who makes friends with everyone aboard; except the senior physician; McCormick. He participates actively in the survey work; helping take elevations and soundings; chronology to determine longitude; and explorations on shore. He collects trunkfuls of bugs and small animals; even a fossil hippopotamus skull. He recognizes some of these as new species; and notes intra-specie variations. He rides with gauchos across Patagonia; and notices the beautiful senoritas of Santiago and Lima. At one point FitzRoy held up the ship while Darwin recovered from an undiagnosed tropical illness. The survey work was onerous and time-consuming; FitzRoy spent almost three years sailing around South America; especially the Tierra del Fuego; the Falklands; and the Galapagos. The captain was a highly strung individual who suffered from what today would be called "depression." (FitzRoy would eventually commit suicide.) Darwin and the younger officers; most of them destined to become admirals; nursed their captain through his crises. Despite his illness; FitzRoy was a charismatic leader; an excellent seaman and a master of the detailed scientific data that went into the survey maps. Perhaps his main influence on Darwin was to encourage him to make independent observations; to record and evaluate them; and to think about underlying mechanisms and meanings. Darwin recognized the voyage as the foundation of his career. From the Galapagos; with several large turtles aboard for fresh meat; they sailed westward to Tahiti; New Zealand; Tasmania and the south coast of Australia; Mauritius; rounded the Cape of Good Hope; stopping briefly again at Bahia; Brazil; for provision; and on home to England; reaching Falmouth; Cornwall; on 2 Oct 1836. This book is beautifully illustrated with contemporary maps and engravings and is a joy to read. It is a fitting introduction to further studies of Darwin and Natural Selection.1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. An OK bookBy PaulThis book was great in the beginning; however; as the author went on it became very boring about who painted what portrait and where the portrait is.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. You can't tell me he wasn't having funBy Bernie (xyzzy)Remember this says "Journal" and that is what it is. It is his first parson adventures on and off the Beagle. He even includes stories about the people on the ship; the ship's life; and maintenance. He is always going ashore and venturing beyond the ship charter to go where no Englishman has gone before. He makes friends with tyrants and the down trodden. Once; to get an animal to come to him; he lay on his back and waved his arms and legs in the air. Whatever you do; do not turn your back on him. He is always knocking something on the head and taking it back for study. It is fun trying to match the old names for places with the new.