Darwin of the Beagle

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The book 'Darwin of the Beagle' was donated to the Mednansky Institute by the BURNDY LIBRARY to which we are forever grateful. In 2006 the Burndy Library was donated to The Huntington Library where it now resides.

A precious account: Darwin of the Beagle by Bern Dibner
Author: M. Crasnier-Mednansky, PhD, DSc
Copyright © 2009, Mednansky Institute, Inc

As long as it consists solely of description it is pretty easy; but where reasoning comes into play a difficulty of which I had no idea – Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

At not quite 23 years of age, Charles Robert Darwin had accepted a self-funded position as Naturalist¹ on board of H.M.S. Beagle, a 242-ton brig assigned to cartographic service, and which had been prepared for another voyage under command of Captain Robert FitzRoy. Darwin was to cover his own expenses but 'he could dispose of zoological, botanical and geological collections' in any manner he chose. H.M.S. Beagle sailed from England on December 27, 1831 on route for a five-year voyage during which Darwin collected varieties of insects, birds, reptiles, plants, fungi and fossil bones of vanished species (1529 specimens were sent to England). He journeyed inland, climbed uncharted mountains and reached virgin territories. In 1833 Darwin wrote "I trust and believe that the time spent in this voyage… will produce its full worth in Natural History. And it appears to me, the doing what little one can to increase the general stock of knowledge, is as respectable an object of life, as one can in any likelihood pursue".

¹Darwin's son, Francis Darwin, wrote 'He was a Naturalist in the old sense of the word, that is, a man who works at many branches of the science, not merely a specialist in one'

The Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe

Multiple details of the voyage (from various sources listed in the biography section of the book) and recollection of Darwin’s own narrative of the voyage make for a fascinating reading of 'Darwin of the Beagle' by Bern Dibner. The book includes copy of a manuscript page from Darwin and facsimile of the 'Darwin-Wallace papers of 1858' communicated to the Linnean Society in 1858.

The book also contains numerous illustrations including portraits of Darwin and several drawings from 'Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, Between the Years 1826 and 1836, Describing their Examination of the Southern Shores of South America, and the Beagle's Circumnavigation of the Globe'. 'Darwin of the Beagle' is an excellent introduction to Charles Darwin's life and work as an explorer and true observer.

In the Falkland Islands Darwin compared species between mainland and adjoining islands. It undermined his previous comprehension of life processes, and the assumption of the immutability of species, which will later be the basis for writing his most significant book 'The Origin of Species'. Differentiation of species grew clearer in his mind in the volcanic Galapagos Islands where life was unlike anything known to him. After his voyage, he went home where for about 20 years he never ceased collecting facts for elaboration of his ideas in support of 'the origin of species by means of natural selection or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life'.

Thomas Henry Huxley, a defender of Darwin against the attacks that followed publication of 'The Origin of Species' in 1859, warned posterity that "in history it was the fate of new truths to begin as heresies and to end as superstitions" and reminded to his listeners that "the essence of the scientific spirit is criticism".