Evolution's Captain: The Story of the Kidnapping That Led to Charles Darwin's Voyage Aboard the Beagle
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.82 (607 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0060088788 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 352 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-09-29 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Amazon Shopper said Happy!. This is an outstanding book - I have read it before and wanted to have my own copy - it arrived much sooner than I expected - I think just a few days and was in excellent condition. all's good!. "The only thing that bothered Fitzroy was Darwin's face." Poor Robert Fitzroy has been relegated to the footnotes section of history.oh yes, wasn't he the captain of "The Beagle"? Yes he was, but he was much more. He was also a member of Parliament, a governor of New Zealand, and he founded the British government's Meteo. "Masterpiece" according to wilksfr. Fabulous well researched nonfiction masterpiece.Takes you back in time and puts youInto the world before evolution was understood.Sublime
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 ‘origin of the species’ discoveries—was conceived by another man: Robert FitzRoy. This is the story of the man without whom the name Charles Darwin might be unknown to us today. 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, provi
Nichols (A Voyage for Madmen, etc.) fills in the gaps with this biography of Robert FitzRoy, the Beagle's second captain. In 1828, FitzRoy took command after the first captain went mad and killed himself. Though the author's enthusiasm for his subject can lead to hyperbole, it'll prove hard not to share his fascination with how FitzRoy's naval career inadvertently set off a scientific controversy still flaring to this day. Nichols, who has taught creative writing at Georgetown and NYU, picks his narrative details well, fleshing out FitzRoy's personality and his shifting relationship with Darwin (though initially friendly, the captain came to violently reject his traveling companion's scientific conclusions). 8 illus.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Publishers Weekly Readers familiar with how Darwin developed his theory of evolution will recognize the HMS Beagle as the ship that took him on his