Book Description
Recorded during a remarkable five-year voyage throughout South America, these findings became the foundation of naturalist Charles Darwin's revolutionary theory of natural selection. His writing brings to life an exotic world of natural wonders, transporting readers to Chile, Argentina, the Andes Mountains, and finally, the Galapagos Islands, the unique ecosystem that inspired Darwin's groundbreaking work. Darwin's work is as relevant today as it was more than 100 years ago, when he first revealed his revolutionary theory.
Download Description
AFTER having been twice driven back by heavy southwestern gales, Her Majesty's ship Beagle, a ten-gun brig, under the command of Captain Fitz Roy, R. N., sailed from Devonport on the 27th of December, 1831. The object of the expedition was to complete the survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.
Customer Reviews:
A Passionate Naturalist.......2007-05-10
Listening to Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle may have not been the best decision. Darwin tends to describe a lot, and my mind easily wandered as long lists of descriptors made it difficult to understand what exactly Darwin was talking about. Reading the book would probably have given me a greater understanding and increased comprehension of what exactly Darwin studied, saw, and observed. But, one advantage to listening to the Voyage was that the narrator David Case, in a very old English accent, made me feel like Charles Darwin was the one speaking to me in first person. I was many times caught thinking that the narrator really was Darwin himself. Having never listened to an audiobook before, this experience was a lot of fun.
As we all know, in Darwin's voyage around the world, Darwin spent a lot of time studying nature and making very detailed observations - which to the untrained listener - that is me - seem tedious. But Darwin also had many human-to-human interactions with Gauchos in Argentina to governors and generals in South America. Darwin's commentary on his meetings with generals, governors, and commoners was the most interesting part of the audiobook as it gave me a feel for how Darwin felt about others around him. Darwin was definitely a product of Victorian society and thus had very defined views about what is civilized and what is barbaric, but in listening to the audiobook, I found that Darwin was not a racist as much as simply a proponent of his upbringing. To prove my point, I do remember that, at one point, Darwin denounces the practice of slavery.
Darwin's voyage is considered the defining event in his life that ultimately led to the formation of his theory of evolution by natural selection. While this book shows that Darwin's keen sense of observation and later application of his observations were the source of his success, another important aspect of his life can be gained by listening to this book, that Darwin truly had a love for nature. Many of his sketches of animals and beatles are not only detailed but written in an obviously excited state. Darwin had a passion for what he did - a lesson that we all could learn from.
a bit long but supremely entertaining :).......2007-05-02
This was the first book I had ever listened to rather than reading, and it was a great experience. Englishman David Case does a beautiful job narrating Darwin's classic journey. Since the book was compiled from Darwin's field notes and journal entries, I think listening is great because it was written in first-person. So the entire time, you're listening to this distinguished British accent mouthing Darwin's own words. It's hard to listen for any length of time without forgetting that you're not actually listening to Darwin himself.
I found it particularly amusing to listen to Case describe from Darwin's point of view the fascinating maneuvers of dung beetles, his description of the Spanish ladies of Buenos Aires, or the experience of tasting young tortoise soup and other exotic foods. His accounts of gaucho life in Argentina and of sneaking up behind the giant and seemingly deaf Galapagos tortoises were particularly entertaining.
Having been to several parts of South America which were visited on the voyage, I found this book to be really interesting and fun to follow along with. I would really like to visit the Galapagos or Tahiti now. I'm not sure if having visited the places makes the book more enjoyable, or if it's the other way around. I suppose I'll have to find out now. :)
Darwin's Journal.......2007-01-10
This audio book had an excelent reader, using pretty close to the dialect of the time. Which was good because I was using it for a character reference, playing Darwin in a theater piece. The book it self was a little long and winded. It was truely a journal of his voyage. Don't look for many of his scientific conclusions. For this you would want to get "Origin of the Spieces." It was filled with stories of his adventures and what he came accross on his trip. Good listening material for long driving trips. It was a bit dry for just sitting and listening to, but there were some entertaining parts burried in there.
What sparked evolution as an idea?.......2006-05-21
Charles Darwin: discoverer of evolution (more or less), civilizational icon, elderly white-bearded guy, and as it happens, quite the world traveler. Many of us recall Darwin's study of finches on the Galapagos Islands, and how the shape of their beak corresponds to the food supply on their particular island. This was, in fact, part of a five year long journey around the world that Darwin took as a young man fresh out of university. In these pages, The Voyage of the Beagle, Darwin put to paper his observations and speculations from that journey.
The Beagle itself was a smallish naval ship on a mission to perform various mappings and explorations. Darwin was on board, in part, to keep the captain company, something a man under the captain's direct command could not properly do. More importantly, Darwin went as a naturalist, fully intending to study the natural world as he encountered it. One can thus categorize his writings as covering three major themes. Zoology and to a lesser extent botany are what he is best known for, and Darwin describes the seemingly endless variety of life forms he came across. His studies were more than casual and he gives the reader some very detailed descriptions of his findings. Even well before the Galapagos Darwin made extensive commentary on how a life form interacts with its immediate environment. Clearly, we can see in retrospect that his mind was attuned to the question that would later provide him with greater name-recognition than most men that ever live. Closely related to his biological work are his geological observations. He spends as much time pondering the mountains and sea floor and cliffs and rivers as he does birds and lizards. Darwin was an enthusiastic follower of the latest findings in Geology, and was reading Charles Lyell's Principals of Geology en-route. From the start we see a smooth transition between his geological observations on the terrain and his biological observations. Darwin's key goal throughout is to understand how a living creature came to be born and survive in the place that it does. Even without this interplay, however, he treats geological observations as worthy and illustrative of the varied aspects of our view of the Earth. Finally, Darwin intersperses all this with nearly as many descriptions of the people and cultures as he does for flora or geology. Darwin set off on foot at nearly every stop the Beagle made, and was eager to see new things and meet new people. His conclusions range from the enthusiastic to the repulsive.
In Darwin's non-PC world, he had no hesitation in describing things as he saw them, and in his views on culture we find the most editorializing within these pages. He is, clearly, an enthusiastic supporter of civilization and humane qualities. This need not mean Western assimilation, though that doesn't hurt in his appraisal, but it does mean showing some sign of mental sophistication. Thus, the reader finds that his kindly descriptions of the Tahitians or Indians differ considerably from those of the South American Fuegians or Australian Aborigines. Though his tone may seem out of sorts to readers today, he is abundantly clear about his specific reasons for saying the things he does.
Darwin's two-year journey on the Beagle turned into a five-year journey in actuality. Four of those years, and all but the last hundred pages here, were spent in South America alone. Throughout he employs a somewhat detached style of presentation as was typical of the age. There are few of what we would consider lively passages. But he is ever-present as an observer of the surroundings. As fitting an age unaccustomed to extensive word of the world around it, his original readers must have found his vivid descriptions (and occasional drawings) breathtaking to consider. It was a different time in Darwin's day, and one wonders if the receptive people of England truly appreciated that they were holding the raw material from which one day would flow the most astounding scientific theory of that century.
Darwin emerges as a scientist.......2002-02-01
This was not the best choice for listening to in the car: too much tedious detail, and I found my mind wandering too often. Still, it was interesting, and I learned a lot.
Darwin was a promising but obscure student at Cambridge when he was suggested for the trip. By the time he returned, his reputation was made. It's not hard to see why: this book is packed with careful observations and attention to detail, as well as thoughtful analyses of topics from species extinction (though not origins at this stage) to the formation of coral atolls. Darwin is clearly very well-read and makes frequent references to the noted authorities of the time, sometimes supporting them and sometimes disagreeing.
I hadn't actually realized that the voyage of the Beagle was as long as it was. I saw it as a year or so, going from England to South America and back again. It was in fact a five-year, round-the-world cruise, covering the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Australia, and numerous other locales as well as the well-known South America and the Galapagos.
My favorite parts are actually the more human anecdotes. Darwin is less than enchanted with New Zealand and Australia, and is not afraid of saying so, noting that most of the citizens are ex-convicts. My favorite single anecdote, though, is about the South American governor who is so dedicated to the rule of law that he has himself put in the stocks when he violates one of his own laws. Darwin also indicates his dislike of slavery and admits to feeling shame when he accidentally causes a male slave to flinch when he makes a threatening gesture to him. So much for that creationist conceit.
There are two appendices not written by Darwin. One is a summary of the orders given to Captain Fitzroy about the mission of the Beagle, which is very telling of the naval issues of the time. It focuses on getting accurate locations of known ports as well as the possible finding of new ones. As a Hornblower fan (and therefore with some interest in naval trivia), I found this very interesting.
The other appendix is Captain Fitzroy's attempt to construe their geological observations to be evidence of the Noachian Deluge. This is not on the same intellectual level as Darwin's writings, and I found it mostly of intellectual interest as evidence that creationist arguments have changed hardly at all in the last 175 years.
All in all, it's an interesting book and a classic of natural history, though not something I'd recommend listening to unless one has a passion for the subject.
Customer Reviews:
5 stars or more.......2006-06-25
- at least for taking on the subject... much more consise and readable then the paired with it The Tree of Life by Sis. Also very much recommend "Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story" for kids from 3 to 9.
A book introducing the concept of evolution to the general public is expertly told for young readers.......2005-09-12
This 48-page history of Charles Darwin's famous sea voyage that was to ultimately result in his publishing a book introducing the concept of evolution to the general public is expertly told for young readers by Mark Bergin and perfectly complemented by the outstanding full color artwork and illustrations by Mark Bergin. Beginning with an informative and concise introduction of the life of Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882), Inside The Beagle With Charles Darwin presents the ship "Beagle" being outfitted for the multi-year voyage, life on board ship, Darwin's exploration of the rainforest, finding fossils, returning home after visiting New Zealand and Australia, and then how Darwin arranged what he'd found, the deductions he made from his findings, and the basic concept that became known as the theory of evolution. Enhanced with a timeline of the voyage, a chronological list of Darwin's life and works, a glossary, and an index, Inside The Beagle With Charles Darwin is a seminal and strongly recommended addition to all grade school and community library Science History collections for children.
Book Description
This is the story of the man without whom the name Charles Darwin might be unknown to us today. That man was Captain Robert FitzRoy, who invited the 22–year–old Darwin to be his companion on board the Beagle .
This is the remarkable story of how a misguided decision by Robert FitzRoy, captain of HMS Beagle , precipitated his employment of a young naturalist named Charles Darwin, and how the clash between FitzRoy's fundamentalist views and Darwin's discoveries led to FitzRoy's descent into the abyss.
One of the great ironies of history is that the famous journey – wherein Charles Darwin consolidated the earth–rattling
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igin of the speciesߤiscoveries – was conceived by another man: Robert FitzRoy. It was FitzRoy who chose Darwin for the journey – not because of Darwin's scientific expertise, but because he seemed a suitable companion to help FitzRoy fight back the mental illness that had plagued his family for generations. Darwin did not give FitzRoy solace; indeed, the clash between the two men's opposing views, together with the ramifications of Darwin's revelations, provided FitzRoy with the final unendurable torment that forced him to end his own life.
Customer Reviews:
The lives of Robert FitzRoy.......2007-04-01
Robert FitzRoy was a brilliant, fascinating and complex man. While this book focusses primarily on his role as the Captain of 'HMS Beagle' during two voyages (the second included Charles Darwin), it includes other aspects of his career and life.
Mr Nichols presents the facts - especially those related to the voyages of HMS Beagle - well. While acknowledging the later differences between Darwin and FitzRoy, the facts are presented impartially. In summary, we owe a great deal to the collaboration between Darwin and FitzRoy. The fact that their complementary skills and intellects were only combined through a form of coincidental opportunities is the purest serendipity.
Highly recommended to those who would like to know more about the events and circumstances behind Darwin's voyage on HMS Beagle as well as the voyage itself.
I am currently reading as much as I can about Robert FitzRoy, and can recommend the following two books as well:
This is a novel about Robert Fitzroy:
This Thing of Darkness
This is a biography of the HMS Beagle herself:
HMS "Beagle" (Voyages S.)
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
A stormy life.......2007-03-04
Britain's Royal Navy has had many figures worthy of note. Some of these have inspired good works of history, while others prompted novelists to produce stirring tales of more or less believable adventures. Captain William Bligh almost immediately comes to mind, as does Patrick O'Brian's lengthy series on Jack Aubrey. One real figure, who should stand out for many accomplishments, has been quietly relegated to the shadows - if not scorned for holding rigid views. Robert FitzRoy, however, was a man of many parts who deserves better treatment. Peter Nichols provides that assessment in this fine biography. The title, however, gives the game away. FitzRoy's name was overshadowed by the passenger he carried for five years, Charles Robert Darwin.
FitzRoy's ascent to the captaincy of HMS Beagle seemed ill-omened. His predecessor, Stokes Pringle, overwhelmed by the enormity of his assignment, put a bullet in his head, taking a dozen days to expire. The task, mapping a channel through Tierra del Fuego in an effort to smooth the path of empire, was taxing enough to make the bravest quail. The 500 kilometre strait might require sailing five times that distance to traverse it - if you made it at all. FitzRoy, although unaccountably young for the mapping job, took it over and pursued it with determination. During the survey, a whaleboat stolen by the Fuegians proved a pivotal point in his life. In attempting to recover the boat, FitzRoy abducted four of the natives, returning them to England as a means of raising them to become civilised Christians. Nichols seems sympathetic to this concept, even while knowing it was doomed to failure.
The world knows the subsequent events: while preparing for the next voyage, FitzRoy brought on board a "companion", Charles Darwin. Not Navy, and not the official "naturalist", Darwin was a gentlemen who could converse with the isolated officer. As a "gentleman", Darwin had less regard for the Fuegians than did FitzRoy, yet condemned slavery while the captain viewed the practice as a civilising force. This discussion was set aside when the pair observed the obvious effects of running water far from the sea. A Noachean Flood, or an ancient Earth? There were clashes and apologies, FitzRoy driving Darwin from his cabin, only to lure him back. The captain's moods were an on-going topic of the ship's officers. The dismal end of his predecessor also may have preyed on FitzRoy's mind when the Beagle beat up the Chilean coast. He believed the mapping inadequate and wanted to return to the Strait for more surveys. Distraught, he actually resigned his command, but was talked out of it by his officers.
At the end of the survey voyage, FitzRoy went through several roles. Unable to gain a ship, he was a Member of Parliament briefly and was sent to New Zealand as its governor. Empire building is fraught with risks and Nichols is only mildly sympathetic with FitzRoy's disastrous role there. The new governor was shipped home after but two years. Back in England, FitzRoy's command skills brought him to a novel task - weather forecasting. The science was just beginning and FitzRoy initiated a reporting and prediction system across the British Isles. At the height of his success at this venture, the Admiralty shut it down, even in the face of the fishing fleet's demands to sustain it. A see-saw career if there ever was one.
The final chapter of the Captain's life [by which time he was a Rear Admiral] was one of fundamental challenges. Already a religious man, FitzRoy became steeped in the Bible's words, becoming convinced it would brook no challenges. Changes observed in the natural record were manifestations of the divine, FitzRoy believed. His notions were reinforced by various commentators like Philip Gosse, who viewed the growing sciences of geology and biology with fear and loathing. In 1859, however, all those declaring Nature could be unravelled by Biblical study were directly refuted by the publication of Darwin's opus, "On the Origin of Species". Reason and evidence triumphed over superstition and dogma. FitzRoy was outraged, and expressed it at the famous British Association meeting the following year.
It's not known how much this revelation led to FitzRoy's taking his own life, but it can hardly have been insignificant. Nichols concludes that Darwin's work was but one symbol of a rapidly changing time. The author examines British society at this point in FitzRoy's with a perceptive eye. Civilisation was moving forward and the author concludes FitzRoy felt left behind. The fear of social upheaval was already being overtaken by events - Darwin's natural selection had little, if anything, to do with it, notes Nichols. It's a worthy thesis, lacking only a more thorough analysis of its roots. We never learn of the early foundations of the captain's thinking. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Evolution's Captain.......2006-03-08
This was bought as a gift and I only leafed through it ... The recipient was delighted and I intend to borrow the book as soon as possible. Very interesting !!
Fundamentalism cuts deep for FitzRoy.......2006-02-14
Nichols focus our attention on the question if Captain FitzRoy was destroyed by the thought he took Darwin on his voyage of discovery. The issue that highlights Nichols excellent book is apparently still alive today. When one touches the third rail of Fundamentalism it cuts deep for some true believers. For example, just yesterday the L A times published an article about a minister teaching elementary age children how to argue against science and the theory of evolution. He instructed them that if in a class room a teacher mentions the word "evolution, or big bang" the children were to raise their hands and ask, how do you know, where you there? And then to tell their teacher only one was there, GOD. And GOD wrote the truth of it in the bible. Imagine this still being up for debate, happening in a country that realizes it has a shortage of scientists. Some polls say 50% of Americans still believe in Creationism. You might ask, how does this relate to Mr. Nichols excellent biography of Captain Robert FitzRoy, the Captain of the H.M.S. Beagle which took Charles Darwin on his voyage to question the common notion that we are being asked today to swallow as "intelligent design"? Well FitzRoy and most of Victorian England's thinking in the mid 1800s was unquestioning in its support of Creationism, even Darwin started from this premise. So as a backdrop to an excellent story of exploration you have a book that provides an entry level introduction to the very beginnings of a new understanding. As Nichols puts it , " How wide was the gulf between Darwin and FitzRoy. Darwin stood at the threshold of an expansion of thought and science that would not be equaled for a hundred years.... Fitzroy in his way was no less a scientist... was stuck, deeply by prejudice and the cleaving to an old order, to a mindset a thousand and more years old, when science was subservient to religion. That order was about to be toppled, and the constructs of the Bible smashed like an old wooden bridge, weakened by rot, before the torrent of a spring flood." You get the idea, and this quote does show Nichols gets carried away with enthusiastic language which I found part of the enjoyment of reading the book. This book would be interesting if only for the story of how FitzRoy kidnapped three natives from Tierra del Fuego, brought them to England, educated them to be Christians and then returned them to their "savage" cousins. Their story is part of FitzRoy's story too. I recommend the book strongly for its ideas and wonderful adventure story.
Near miss.......2005-08-08
This generally sympathetic account of Robert FitzRoy and his role as the captain of the HMS Beagle during Darwin's famous voyage is a good summer read. But anyone familiar with manic-depressive illness can't avoid the conclusion that Nichols misses a key aspect of FitzRoy's persona: he had bipolar disorder! It is remarkable how Nichols could so carefully document the elements of this illness in his biography of FitzRoy and yet not get it. As Nichols reports, FitzRoy had a family history of suicide, episodes of ill-considered spending (e.g., he purchased 2 ships with a crew on the vague hope that the Admirality would reimburse him), followed by severe depression (during the voyage of the Beagle, when FitzRoy gave up his command during an attack of depression, Darwin himself wondered whether there was something wrong with FitzRoy's brain). Add to this the episodic, lifelong course, ending -- in this sad case as in about 15% people with the illness even today -- in suicide. Nichols would have us believe that FitzRoy slit his throat with his wife and children nearby because of his disagreements with Darwin, capped by an unfavorable notice in The Times. It is clear instead that FitzRoy had a mental illness that had barely been described in the year he died of it, but which even now continues to go undiagnosed and untreated. Nichols would have served his readers -- and FitzRoy's memory -- better if he had recognized what should have been plain and considered this in his account of FitzRoy's often erratic behavior. Nevertheless, the book should be read by anyone interested in the early days of the Theory of Natural Selection.
Book Description
Here is a fascinating record of one of the most famous journeys ever made. This work constitutes an accurate historical document as well as an evocative travelog that conveys Charles Darwin's personal account of the voyage with freshness and immediacy.
Customer Reviews:
wonderful read. the man in his own words.......2007-06-07
I have been reading a bit slowly to make it last longer. Darwin was unique and his writing is personal in this journal. Highly recommended for anyone who likes biology, nature and thinking about them.
Average customer rating:
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A Man of Three Worlds: Samuel Pallache, a Moroccan Jew in Catholic and Protestant Europe
Mercedes García-Arenal , and
Gerard Wiegers
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0801886236 |
Book Description
In the late fifteenth century, many of the Jews expelled from Spain made their way to Morocco and established a dynamic community in Fez. A number of Jewish families became prominent in commerce and public life there. Among the Jews of Fez of Hispanic origin was Samuel Pallache, who served the Moroccan sultan as a commercial and diplomatic agent in Holland until Pallache's death in 1616. Before that, he had tried to return with his family to Spain, and to this end he tried to convert to Catholicism and worked as an informer, intermediary, and spy in Moroccan affairs for the Spanish court. Later he became a privateer against Spanish ships and was tried in London for that reason. His religious identity proved to be as mutable as his political allegiances: when in Amsterdam, he was devoutly Jewish; when in Spain, a loyal converso (a baptized Jew).
In A Man of Three Worlds, Mercedes García-Arenal and Gerard Wiegers view Samuel Pallache's world as a microcosm of early modern society, one far more interconnected, cosmopolitan, and fluid than is often portrayed. Pallache's missions and misadventures took him from Islamic Fez and Catholic Spain to Protestant England and Holland. Through these travels, the authors explore the workings of the Moroccan sultanate and the Spanish court, the Jewish communities of Fez and Amsterdam, and details of the Atlantic-Mediterranean trade. At once a sweeping view of two continents, three faiths, and five nation-states and an intimate story of one man's remarkable life, A Man of Three Worlds is history at its most compelling.
Book Description
From the instant they spotted the forlorn puppy in the kennel, as she stared at them with her intense eyes, Cindy and Peter Martin knew she was the one for them. Almost immediately, Perth became a central part of the household, a dog for all dogs. Always left to run free, Perth became an indefatigable explorer, often gone for hours or entire days, but her infallible compass always brought her back home. From her adoption in upstate New York, her incredible survival in the wilderness of Vermont to her later adventures in the English countryside, Perth displayed the same devotion, unshakable trust, and unstinting love. An entertaining, beautifully written homage to a very special dog.
Customer Reviews:
Perth.......2005-10-05
Peter and Cindy Martin bought Perth, a beautiful beagle at a well-known breeder in upstate New York. When they lived in Cazenovia, New York, Perth was allowed to run free and always would be regardless of the venue. When Peter got a job offer in Ohio, he took it, but Perth became a rotten devil. She was denied freedom in this boring atmosphere and soon got restless and snappy. This was why Peter and Cindy moved to Florida, where they were, "eager to embrace the more vivid subtropical climate and the majesty of the ocean, even if Florida had no hills." (p. 45) Florida proved to be just as bad, because while they were happier, Florida had a terrible climate and a very boring culture full of elderly people.
As a trip to England neared for Peter and Cindy, there was no place to take Perth because they refused to put her up in a kennel. They found an all girls camp in Vermont that would take her as their mascot for the summer, but as soon as Peter and Cindy left, Perth became irritable and again snappy. The camp let a nearby boy take care of her, but he chained her to a chair in the barn and this made Perth vicious. She escaped and found her way to a camp just south of the Canadian border where a family took care of her. When Cindy and Peter received news that Perth had gone missing, they came back to the States early, to begin their search for her.
With the help from a local SPCA, signs were put up at grocery stores in many states that contained information about Perth and that she had a tattoo on the inside of her ear. The family that had taken Perth in had heard about this missing dog, and soon returned her to Cindy and Peter. They were overjoyed! "Perth had made her break for freedom in Vermont and survived." (p. 109) Peter soon after got a job offer to teach at a university in England. He took the job, but Perth had to be put into a six month quarantine before being able to set foot on English soil. Before long Perth was free to roam about the English countryside and was absolutely enjoying life.
Peter needed to do some research in the States for nine months and Perth was in need of a place to stay. They found that their friend Barbara could take Perth in, and that she understood her greatly. When the family returned, Perth was in great shape, but not too long after, Perth began showing signs of her increasing age of 16. It turned out that Peter needed to make a return visit to the States and again had to leave Perth in her now dying state. They were to leave her with Barbara and she was going to have Perth put down after they left. When the Martins got back though, Perth was not dead, but in great condition. Barbara did not have the heart to put her down when Perth was showing signs of improvement. "Two or more years she lived, reaching the human equivalent of 147 years of age." (p. 205)
A Dog Called Perth was a heart-filled story about one dog's love of life and of those who loved her. Since this book was a true story, it really helped bring to life the character of this one dog and the accounts she faced. I truly enjoyed the imagery in this book, especially when the author was describing a new place that they had moved to or a specific time that called for crisp details. "She would have before her the pastoral green fields, meadows, hills and gardens of bucolic Sussex instead of the sterile and constricted mansions along the Florida beach." I was able to relate many feelings in this book back to my own life because of my experiences with my own dogs and the love I have received from them. Another thing I liked about reading non-fiction is that it is written in first person and as is the case with this book, the author was writing about his own life, which made it incredibly personal.
Oh Perth, poor Perth..........2005-03-18
(NOTE: I initially wrote this review for the paperback edition, but I felt it appropriate to post it here as well.)
Depending on your perspective, "A Dog Called Perth" is either heartwarming or heartbreaking. It's definitely a mixture of the two, but to some one may outweigh the other.
Unfortunately for my reading experience, the heartbreaking aspect overwhelmed the story.
Author Peter Martin and his wife, Cindy, obviously loved their beagle, Perth, to bits. They couldn't get enough of her, she was perfect in every way, shape and form. If Perth got into any trouble it was because someone provoked her in some way, or she was defending herself, or she was just being the way dogs are intended to be: free-spirited. Their love for this dog was clearly limitless, and the pedestal Perth was placed upon simply got taller and taller throughout her long, 21-year life.
But that was the problem. Peter and Cindy were so wrapped up in Perth that they seemed to lose sight of the fact that she was a DOG. Now, I'm as much a dog-lover as the next guy, but these people's approach to raising and caring for their dog was not exactly what I'd call responsible.
For instance, Perth had a history of biting people. And not just biting them -- but biting their NOSES. Scary, if you asked me, especially if you are unfortunate enough to be one of the recipients. But yet it was never Perth's fault -- Peter had warned people not to bend down next to Perth's head, and if they did and she bit them, then, oh well, too bad -- you were warned!
Worst of all, when they had to go to England for a few months, they left Perth with complete strangers at a girls' summer camp. They only thought of Perth's needs and desires: to run free in the wilds of Vermont, to have access to every nook and cranny the wilderness had to offer, to chase rabbits and squirrels endlessly, and all the while have her food and water made ready for her by people who had only known the dog for all of one day. Not once did Peter and Cindy consider the danger of leaving a dog known to bite people and having no experience with children at a girls' summer camp. All that mattered was Perth's well-being, no one else's.
Not once did Peter and Cindy put Perth on a leash. That is no exaggeration. They didn't "believe" in leashes -- even after Perth escaped from the girls' camp and went missing for six months. (Peter and Cindy, naturally, blamed the camp director for not controlling Perth better.) They eventually found her, but only because they were incredibly lucky and had enough money to offer up a decent reward. After getting her back, Perth was still allowed to roam free. The fact that she might have caused who-knows-how-many traffic accidents and random dog bites and dug-up gardens was unimportant to these owners.
And yet, throughout the book you get the sense that their love and devotion to Perth is extremely genuine. Too bad it didn't demonstrate itself in ways that I could relate to.
When I read the back of the book, I thought I would've been able to relate a lot to it. Like Perth, my dog Andie went missing, too. She was only gone for 11 days, but it was the worst 11 days of my life. But Andie went missing because one day our gate didn't latch properly and she got out, not because I left her behind with a bunch of strangers and allowed her to roam off-leash her entire life. My love for Andie rivals that of Peter and Cindy's love for Perth, but I believe it wins out because, honestly, I protect Andie and they did not.
So, I'm sorry to say I came away disappointed with this book. Upon reading Amazon reviews for this book's hardback edition, I found I was not alone. Not by a long shot. Although beautifully written -- the main reason I'm giving it three stars -- I can't bring myself to recommend this book to anyone, dog lover or otherwise. I'd feel like I was adding to the irresponsibility with which Perth was raised, and she deserves better than th
indomitable dog, irresponsible owners!!!.......2004-02-22
I was so enraged by the complete ignorance of the dog owners in this book that I am writing my very first book review! Perth was obviously a very special dog and I enjoyed reading about her intelligence and spirit very much. However, the way she was so carelessly treated by those who claimed to love her, simply makes my blood boil! As someone else has already written, I, too, hesitated to read the ending of the book fearing exactly what happened at the end of her life. I finally did finish the book and do urge other dog lovers to read it, knowing in advance that they will probably simply love Perth and want to shake some common sense into her owners!
Poor Perth!.......2003-06-27
I thought I was the only one outraged by this book until I decided to look it up here and read the other reviews..I am more than half way through but simply cannot finish the book..it makes me too sad and too mad! And since another reviewer gave us the ending I REALLY cant finish it-I guess I am glad that I know what happened...so I dont have to read it myself.
Have these supposedly intelligent people ever heard about the responsibility one takes on when bringing a puppy into the family..it is at least at 10-12 year committment and sometimes even longer. It is NOT kind to just let a dog roam free and it is NOT cruel to put them in a kennel when you must go away. That is merely taking care of them...and I truly believe that was also the case in 1965 which was not exactly the dark ages!! If you can't take a dog on the ferry...and you have the dog with you (oh what a burden) then you dont take the ferry trip! Don't lock her in the car and then go on the ferry and worry (?) about it! Other reviewers were right-Perth deserved better owners..I could go on and on but I just become more angry. I am so sorry I picked up this "heartwarming" tale ..it may be the only book on a dog that I simply could not complete..due to outrage and sorrow.
This book wasn't the heart warming tale I had expected.......2003-04-15
As a dog lover and owner and having read all of James Herriot's books and others of that genre, I was really looking forward to reading this book and had prepared a big box of tissues ready for the ending when I would read of Perth's demise at the great age of 21 after living a long and happy life. By the end of the book though the only tears I wanted to cry were ones of anger and dismay.
That Perth lived to such a great age can in no way be attributed to the care, though I have trouble describing it as that, bestowed on her by her owners, but rather was due to an amazing amount of luck. As a result of her owners mind boggling irresponsibility and selfishly misguided beliefs, including the one that she should never be tied up (though why you should ever have to resort to tying a dog up if you have taken the trouble to ensure your garden or yard is dog-proof, is a mystery) but rather be allowed total freedom to wander at will, Perth was not only exposed to great danger herself, but also posed a danger to everyone else too. I can't help but wonder, taking into consideration her considerable lifespan, how many sheep and other domestic animals or pets were chased, worried or worse by her, how many accidents were narrowly avoided and, in view of the fact that from a very young age she had proved herself to be unpredictable and not adverse to using her teeth, how many people, especially children, were terrorised by this loose cannon of a dog tearing around towns, villages and countryside. I am sure that given the right amount of loving discipline needed when she was a puppy that she would not have become the snappy, unpredictable dog she turned into in the first place.
The unsung heroine of the story in my opinion is the eccentric kennel owner, Barbara Stapeley, who with her no-nonsense, true understanding of dogs and their psychology saw through the owner's so called devotion to their dog and wasn't afraid to tell them a few home truths. She literally saved Perth's life as, if it hadn't been for her, the poor old dog would have been conveniently dispatched at the age of 17 despite the fact that she was in perfect health, in order to relieve the Martin's of their guilt at leaving her once again.
Although the treatment of Perth by her owners can't be described as cruelty in the conventional sense of the word, I believe it was a form of cruelty nonetheless. As has been said many times before, there are no bad dogs, just bad owners. I found this book at times to be an extremely uncomfortable and upsetting read.
Average customer rating:
- A perfect compliment to Voyage of the Beagle
- DONT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I FIRST MADE
- Map making and evolution
- A book re-visiting Darwin's steps.
- A book re-visiting Darwin's steps.
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Fossils, Finches, and Fuegians: Darwin's Adventures and Discoveries on the Beagle
Richard Keynes
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Charles Darwin's Beagle Diary
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Darwin, His Daughter, and Human Evolution
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Charles Darwin: The Power of Place
ASIN: 0195166493 |
Book Description
When Charles Darwin, then age 22, first saw the HMS Beagle, he thought it looked "more like a wreck than a vessel commissioned to go round the world." But travel around the world it did, taking Darwin to South America, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, and of course the Galapagos Islands, in a journey of discovery that lasted almost five years. Now, in Fossils, Finches and Fuegians, Richard Keynes, Darwin's great grandson, offers the first modern full-length account of Darwin's epoch-making expedition. This was the great adventure of Charles Darwin's life. Indeed, it would have been a great adventure for anyone--tracking condor in Chile, surviving the great earthquake of 1835, riding across country on horseback in the company of gauchos, watching whales leaping skyward off Tierra del Fuego, hunting ostriches with a bolo, discovering prehistoric fossils and previously unknown species, and meeting primitive peoples such as the Fuegians. Keynes captures many of the natural wonders that Darwin witnessed, including an incredible swarm of butterflies a mile wide and ten miles long. Keynes also illuminates Darwin's scientific work--his important findings in geology and biology--and traces the slow revolution in Darwin's thought about species and how they might evolve. Numerous illustrations--mostly by artists who traveled with Darwin on the Beagle--grace the pages, including finely rendered drawings of many points of interest discussed in the book. There has probably been no greater or more important scientific expedition than Darwin's voyage on the Beagle. Packed with colorful details of life aboard ship and in the wild, here is a fascinating portrait of Charles Darwin and of 19th century science.
Customer Reviews:
A perfect compliment to Voyage of the Beagle.......2007-04-23
This book was an incredibly fast and easy read for its 400 pages. For those who have read Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle, this may seem a bit redundant at times, but I actually found it to be a great compliment. Richard Darwin Keynes (Charles Darwin's great grand-son) does a beautiful job weaving together a narrative of Darwin's long journey aboard the HMS Beagle between 1832 and 1836. Bits and pieces of Darwin's commonplace journal, his field notes, and letters home are very well incorporated into the overall narrative, adding authenticity to Keynes' interpretation of his great-grandfather's time aboard the Beagle. There are also several very nice watercolor plates and many gorgeous maps and engravings that really add to the reader's experience.
The chapters are very short (8-12 pages) and each one deals with a specific region visited along the journey (except maybe the first and last two). This style is very effective, and keeps the reader interested and on track. Keynes' also adds important and relevant historical background that is not present in Voyage of the Beagle and provides the reader with a great deal of insight into Darwin's life and his relationships with other people, such as Captain Robert FitzRoy. I would recommend this book highly to anyone interested in Darwin, evolution, the history of science, or Latin America.
DONT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I FIRST MADE.......2006-08-07
I never gave this book a good chance when I started reading it the first time and so I put it back on my shelf for a few months.
I started out reading it very slowly, each word, trying to savor the images of a bygone time and of the words and adventures of an incredible man. After a while I noticed I was trying to skip through as fast as possible just to finish it. Then when I left it on the shelf a few months it dawned on me... this book should be treated respectfully, and read for enjoyment, not just to be finished but to feel and be enveloped by, and so I picked it up a second time and my impression of it is what lead me to give it 5 stars.
The incredible abundance of drawings by those very artists that were there with Darwin, seeing what he saw, eating with him, journeying with him, and Darwin himself, his words, what his thoughts were, what he saw and touched... the descriptions coupled with the drawings of the places visited made me want to step back in time and visit each place the way it used to be... sadly those jewels are now replaced with superhighways as Keynes points out... man has a natural inclination and penchant to change usually irreversibly by destroying beauty... and what has been lost is truly sad...
What has been left is this wonderful, moving account of Charles Darwin as so wonderfully presented by Keynes. So don't do as I first did, try to plough your way through this book just to finish it, but even worse, don't just put it down to never read it because you will have truly lost out on reading a fascinating journey, an adventure of people, places, names, faces and life you just don't find these days in todays reading...
The pictures of the Feugians, unbelievable! These were the actual people that Darwin met along the journey and to see these pictures and see what these people looked like, what they wore, their face painting, everything is truly remarkable. A book like this, with this much value, pictures, detailed descriptions and accounts should be worth much much more than it sells for compared to some of the garbage churned out by lesser authors.
And you know what... I plan on reading it all over again, slowly, deliberately, and with wonder and amazement filling my mind and heart.
Map making and evolution.......2004-05-07
An enjoyable recount of Darwin's voyage around the world in the early 1830s. Rather than argue for or against any version of Darwins theories, Keynes describes the adventure of 2 English gentlemen setting out to create a better map of the world. Aside from providing an enjoyable and picturesque travel guide, we get to know the way each inspired the other.
The reader will be surprised to read about the daring young Darwin's adventures. He ends up dodging warriors prowling the Argentinian praries, trusting his life to murderous Fuegian cowboys, getting drunk with Chilean gold miners, intervening in a Brazilian civil war and tasting potentially halucenogenic South American plants.
Keynes seems particularly interested in showing Darwin as Captain FitzRoy's agent and artist. In some ways, Keynes makes a case that Darwin was hired to write the story FitzRoy dictated. Like the artists brought along by Captain FitzRoy, Darwin was invited to embellishFitzRoy's maps. FitzRoy, a flawed character of exceptional energy and intuition, knew well his limitations: depression and a violent temper. To achieve what he knows is possible he drags young English gentlemen off to the ends of the world and sets them on their path to celebrity and fame.
Left to itself, this action story and tragedy (FitzRoy commits suicide in the last narrative chapter) could have stood alone. The author feels compelled to trouble us with a search for the exact moment that Darwin's diary records the inspiration for 'evolutionary theory'. It detracts a bit, but only in a minor way. Unexplored is the relationship between map making and evolutionary trees, an obvious paradigm which would have fit the story better.
A book re-visiting Darwin's steps........2003-06-08
Mr. Keynes (great-grandson of Charles Darwin) re-plays the voyage of the Beagle, with some interesting back-up material. We read of Darwin's early life and his family connections, and the Beagle's Capt. FitzRoy's interest in returning to Tierra del Fuego. Included are plenty of extracts from others' letters and logs, plus many original drawings & paintings. And there is a nice touch; at the top of each page is the month and year, so you are continually reminded of just how much time has passed.
Having read and enjoyed Darwin's 'Voyage of the Beagle', I was not expecting much in the way of startling new evidence re his discoveries & theories. And there is not; but what IS there, is more focus on his time in Patagonia, which surprisingly covered 2 years - nearly half the 5 year trip ... which is not apparent in the 'Voyage' (in my faulty memory) ... And the Beagle only spent 5 weeks in the Galapagos, but that short stay provided most of the hard evidence which fuelled Darwin's later theorising.
Further visits to N.Z., Australia and Tasmania showed the devastation to the indiginous wildlife caused by introduced species, which prompted more thoughts on survival. Had more time been available in Mauritius or Madagascar, his theorising might have been more concentrated and conclusions derived earlier (but of course, 20/20 hindsight always provides the best view!).
Mr. Keynes provides a modern perspective on the scientific method of the young (23) Darwin, especially in his noting exactly which strata fossils were found, and his meticulously accurate un-biased descriptions of specimens (not a predominant trait in the scientific community at that time!). Particular focus is placed on his geological and fossil studies - largely glossed over by Darwin himself - revealing some deep background thinking which was formative in constructing his Theory of Evolution. The penultimste chapter reveals how Darwin spent the 20-odd years leading up to the publication of 'Origin'; how his Father and reading Malthus simulated his imagination; how his friendship with Lyell and Wallace proved crucial in the book's publication. It also underlines the idea that luck, having independant means (something denied to Wallace), and being in the right place at the right time (like Capt. Cook) probably had more to do with his success than his brilliance did.
In a touching final chapter we feel the love and friendship that grew between FitzRoy and Darwin during those 5 years on board, FitzRoy's subsequent jobs, then his final descent into depression and suicide..
Not an easy read; Mr. Keynes' writing style is not as fluid or easy on the eye as some other writers in the popular science arena, and some of the attached letters are hard going. I found myself frequently re-reading passages to ensure that I had the correct gist of the text.
However, that apart, this is an illuminating, fresh look at what was probably the most important voyage - ever - for philosophical science.****
A book re-visiting Darwin's steps........2003-06-08
Mr. Keynes (great-grandson of Charles Darwin) re-plays the voyage of the Beagle, with some interesting back-up material. We read of Darwin's early life and his family connections, and the Beagle's Capt. FitzRoy's interest in returning to Tierra del Fuego. Included are plenty of extracts from others' letters and logs, plus many original drawings & paintings. And there is a nice touch; at the top of each page is the month and year, so you are continually reminded of just how much time has passed.
Having read and enjoyed Darwin's 'Voyage of the Beagle', I was not expecting much in the way of startling new evidence re his discoveries & theories. And there is not; but what IS there, is more focus on his time in Patagonia, which surprisingly covered 2 years - nearly half the 5 year trip ... which is not apparent in the 'Voyage' (in my faulty memory) ... And the Beagle only spent 5 weeks in the Galapagos, but that short stay provided most of the hard evidence which fuelled Darwin's later theorising.
Further visits to N.Z., Australia and Tasmania showed the devastation to the indiginous wildlife caused by introduced species, which prompted more thoughts on survival. Had more time been available in Mauritius or Madagascar, his theorising might have been more concentrated and conclusions derived earlier (but of course, 20/20 hindsight always provides the best view!).
Mr. Keynes provides a modern perspective on the scientific method of the young (23) Darwin, especially in his noting exactly which strata fossils were found, and his meticulously accurate un-biased descriptions of specimens (not a predominant trait in the scientific community at that time!). Particular focus is placed on his geological and fossil studies - largely glossed over by Darwin himself - revealing some deep background thinking which was formative in constructing his Theory of Evolution. The penultimste chapter reveals how Darwin spent the 20-odd years leading up to the publication of 'Origin'; how his Father and reading Malthus simulated his imagination; how his friendship with Lyell and Wallace proved crucial in the book's publication. It also underlines the idea that luck, having independant means (something denied to Wallace), and being in the right place at the right time (like Capt. Cook) probably had more to do with his success than his brilliance did.
In a touching final chapter we feel the love and friendship that grew between FitzRoy and Darwin during those 5 years on board, FitzRoy's subsequent jobs, then his final descent into depression and suicide..
Not an easy read; Mr. Keynes' writing style is not as fluid or easy on the eye as some other writers in the popular science arena, and some of the attached letters are hard going. I found myself frequently re-reading passages to ensure that I had the correct gist of the text.
However, that apart, this is an illuminating, fresh look at what was probably the most important voyage - ever - for philosophical science.
Average customer rating:
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Mariners Are Warned!: John Lort Stokes and H. M. S. Beagle in Australia 1837-1843
Marsden Hordern
Manufacturer: Melbourne University Publishing
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0522850448 |
Book Description
In 1837, John Lort Stokes was commissioned by the British Hydrographic Office to chart unknown parts of the Australian coastline in the H.M.S. Beagle, the sailing ship that Charles Darwin made famous. Thus began the oceanic career of the last Royal Navy surveyor and a great Australian seaman whose stories are recounted in this biography. Through his travels, Stokes circumnavigated Australia twice, discovered the Fitzroy, Albert, and Flinders rivers, and charted a graveyard of sailing ships known as Bass Strait. Stokes's adventures are told by an experienced seaman who captures a sailor's awe and outrage at the breathtaking foolishness of this earnest voyager.
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- A great story teller tells a great true story
- Young Darwin
- Valuable Background on How Darwin Became a Scientist
- An excellent one volume Illustrated Introductory book
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Darwin and the Beagle
Alan Moorehead
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Binding: Paperback
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The Blue Nile
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The Fall of Constantinople 1453 (Canto)
ASIN: 0140033270 |
Book Description
When the Beagle sailed in 1831, she carried a young naturalist, Charles Darwin, at age 22 still unknown. Destined for the church, Darwin was cozily at ease with creation as explained in Genesis.
But everything he encountered on the voyage -- from the primitive people of Tierra del Fuego to the finches of the Galapagos Islands, from earthquakes and eruptions to fossil seashells gathered at 12,000 feet in the Andes -- challenged biblical assumptions and led finally to ORIGIN OF SPECIES.
"Mr. Moorehead's admirable prose style, his entrancing narrative...are beyond praise." (The London Times)
Customer Reviews:
A great story teller tells a great true story.......2006-07-22
Alan Moorehead does wonders with the story of Charles Darwin aboard the HMS Beagle. This is a very readable version of the voyage for the non-biologist and the non-sailor. Other accounts of the story (including Darwin's) can be tedious to the casual reader, but this reads like an adventure novel. The book uses many direct quotes and MANY illustrations made during and immediately after the voyage. This text with these illustrations brought together makes a wonderful presentation of one of the most important voyages in history.
Young Darwin.......2002-06-25
Darwin and the Beagle is Alan Moorehead's re-telling of Charles Darwin's famous voyage around the world. It is first of all an adventure story, the sort of adventure that would intrigue a young man fresh out of school, with little ambition about his future but with abiding interest in the natural world.
The chance to sail with Captain Fitzroy and crew was an opportunity that would change young Darwin's life forever and that would transform his hobby into a vocation. It would also plant the seeds for his theories of evolution and expand his interests into zoology, botany, and geology. I was surprised to learn that Darwin had been a hunter -- of birds, no less. As resident naturalist aboard the Beagle, Darwin turned his cabin into a lab for various species of insect, bird and reptile, many found for the first time, as well as fossils of prehistoric animals.
I was impressed by Darwin's clarity and disinterest. His powers of unjaundiced observation were uncorrupted by any desire to intervene or alter the course of natural development. This was evident not only in his examinations of wildlife but in encounters with primitive, often savage, people, where the Western temptation to interfere can be very great.
Although he spent much of the trip seasick and homesick, woefully miserable and depressed, he never lost the scientific curiosity that caught fire on board the Beagle. His interests are the key to Moorehead's book, second only to reading Darwin's own firsthand account of the voyage.
After this trip, Darwin never circumnavigated the globe again. Ill-health kept him close to home, occasionally embroiled in the melodramatic debates over his discoveries. Moorehead touches on the beginnings of these conflicts, as in the occasional skirmishes with the fundamentalist Captain Fitzroy. I don't find the clash between science and religion to be all that much of a conflict -- both seek the truth -- and anyway that is not the subject of the book.
It should be read, and I think was meant to be read, as an adventure, a specific kind of adventure in which a young man, moved by pleasure, begins to find his way in the world.
Valuable Background on How Darwin Became a Scientist.......2001-02-14
Many people know more about Charles Darwin's hypothesis about the origin of species than about how he arrived at his conclusions. Unless you are a devoted scientist, you will probably never read his book, The Origin of Species, his journals, or his autobiography. Alan Moorehead has done a valuable service in providing an entertaining popular introduction to Darwin's work in this book (available now as an audio cassette).
Darwin's life is full of ironies, which are nicely developed in this book. His grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, was a well-known physician who espoused some elementary ideas about biological evolution. Is finding evolution a heritable trait?
Charles Darwin had been a poor student, and seemed only competent to become a country curate.
The position of naturalist on the Beagle was cooked up because the captain was subject to mental illness, and hoped the companionship of another educated person would help him keep his senses.
Darwin initially turned the job down because his father was opposed, and was only able to persuade his father to let him pursue this when a relative aggressively intervened.
Darwin's main qualification for the position was that his family could afford the 500 pounds it would cost to be on the voyage while conducting this unpaid position.
Also, Darwin got horribly sea sick, which meant that he sought out opportunities to be on land as much as possible (this was fortunate for the future of biology).
Finally, Darwin was a believer in strict creationism when he started the voyage. He saw his job, in part, as finding evidence for Noah's flood.
The voyage of the Beagle lasted five years, and involved circumnavigating the globe. The primary purpose of the Beagle's trip was to map coastlines for the admiralty.
Most people know about Darwin's finches (whose beaks developed in different ways in various islands in the Galapagos to reflect the local food supplies), but do not realize that he only spent a few days in the Galapagos.
He had many other important experiences in South America and on other Pacific islands that led him to appreciate how geological processes of mountain building and ocean depressing impacted species. The fossils he found in Uraguay and Argentina of extinct animals began to undermine his belief in the literal meaning of the Bible on these points. Finding other fossils from ocean creatures at 12,000 feet high in the Andes further stretched his mind. Seeing extreme volcanic action and the effects of tidal waves in Chile added to the picture.
This material would be ideal for a young person trying to find what interests them. It will encourage the idea of being open to new experiences, and learning from what you observe. Many young people would like scientific careers if they ever tried one. High school and college science classes give an incomplete and poor impression of what working in science is all about. This book nicely captures the excitement of field work and trying to figure out what the data mean.
I graded the book down for being too popularized and a little too repetitive. Readers can absorb more substantive information than Mr. Moorehead included here.
A good way to apply what you learn in this book is to observe a group of animals over time. Take notes on what you see. Find a way to determine patterns from your notes. Then consider reasons why these behaviors could be beneficial to the animals. Then ask yourself what genetic and behavioral influences may bear on this behavior. You have now created a hypothesis. How can it be tested?
An excellent book about our modern understanding of Darwin's work can be found in The Beak of the Finch, which is the first published work on how natural selection works in practice from observing many generations of Darwin's finches.
Be open to all that is around you . . . to get the most out of life!
An excellent one volume Illustrated Introductory book.......1998-11-10
A fine introduction into the insights which caused Darwin to change his mind about religion and brought him into conflict with Capt. FitzRoy who was a dyed in the wool believer. It is nicely illustated and well written. The serious student might find it less than what he needs, but to the novice it is an excellent choice that may, or may not, lead him to explore Darwin's conversion further. It will please those with an adventurous bent as well. A satisfying work worth having in your library to be read again and again. Note: the timing matches Dana's Two Years Before the Mast (1844-46), but what a difference in the treament of the crew.
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The Adventures of Charles Darwin
Peter Ward
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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ASIN: 0521245109 |
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