Tag Archives: People
Review of ‘The Voyage Of The Beagle’, By Charles Darwin
Painting of HMS Beagle off Patagonia
Originally titled, Journal Of Researches Into The Natural History And Geology Of The Countries Visited During The Voyage Of H. M. S. Beagle Round The World, Under The Command Of Capt. Fitz Roy [Sic] R.N. By Charles Darwin, M.A., F.R.S.
Apology to the reader; This ‘review’ seems to have grown and grown, until there was a danger it would be nearly as long as the book itself. I’m afraid that I seem to have imitated Darwin himself in starting out to write a few brief notes and, as he himself often did, getting so engrossed in my subject that I ended up devoting far more time (and considerably more words) to it than I intended. Sorry!
Who can doubt that Darwin’s five-year circumnavigation of the world aboard HMS Beagle was the most significant and consequential bit of Scientific Tourism in the history of science? Not because of any particularly important discoveries made en route, though there were many, but because of its influence on the young Darwin himself and his subsequent life and thought. Reading his letters and journal we see how the voyage clearly inspired him to dedicate himself to the study of natural history, rather than sink comfortably into holy orders, and the uncontroversial life of the Victorian country parson he had seemed destined to become. This book[1] is his account of that voyage, and it may be worth noting that its immediate and apparently unexpected success doubtless encouraged the young Darwin to continue with his vocation.