With an Introduction by David Amigoni. Charles Darwin's travels around the world as an independent naturalist on HMS Beagle between 1831 and 1836 impressed upon him a sense of the natural world's beauty and sublimity which language could barely capture. Words, he said, were inadequate to convey to those who have not visited the inter-tropical regions, the sensation of delight which the mind experiences'. Yet in a travel journal which takes the reader from the coasts and interiors of South America to South Sea Islands, ...
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With an Introduction by David Amigoni. Charles Darwin's travels around the world as an independent naturalist on HMS Beagle between 1831 and 1836 impressed upon him a sense of the natural world's beauty and sublimity which language could barely capture. Words, he said, were inadequate to convey to those who have not visited the inter-tropical regions, the sensation of delight which the mind experiences'. Yet in a travel journal which takes the reader from the coasts and interiors of South America to South Sea Islands, Darwin's descriptive powers are constantly challenged, but never once overcome. In addition, The Voyage of the Beagle displays Darwin's powerful, speculative mind at work, posing searching questions about the complex relation between the Earth's structure, animal forms, anthropology and the origins of life itself.
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This is Charles Darwin's rewrite of the journal of his voyage round the world in a British exploring vessel, the Beagle. Its scientific significance is that in it he records observations that gave him inklings that species were not eternally fixed but could evolve.
It's also a rattling good adventure and travel story. The best book I took to the Galapagos,it made serious fun tracing Darwin's movements, and fun fun teasing my fellow greenies. "The hawks are so tame I pushed one off his perch with the muzzle of my shotgun", "The tortoises of James Island are esteemed especially tasty." led to "Why are you shcked? I was quoting Darwin."
