BWF - Voyage of the Beagle - Charles Darwin - 3 Stars

[Olivermagnus]

Voyage of the Beagle documents the second voyage of HMS Beagle, which sailed around the world visiting different countries. The original purpose of the voyage was to survey the coasts of South America. While the seamen surveyed, Darwin would embark on land to observe the geography and wildlife. Based on the observations of animal diversity, Charles Darwin eventually developed his theory of evolution.

As the ship’s biologist, Darwin was responsible for cataloguing of the varieties of life they encountered, from Australian marsupials to Galapagos turtles, ferns to flowers. That his journal also contains the social events of lords and ladies his ship was greeted by at harbors around the world, gives a true travelogue feel to the narrative, one that indicates Darwin, along with being incredibly insightful, was was also an observer of human behavior.

The book consists of multiple journal entries, each documenting his observations of the surrounding geology and ecosystems. Similar to a scientific journal, Darwin describes the fine details of many plants and animals. Readers will note that Darwin had remarkable powers of observation.

It was interesting to see the world as it was almost 200 years ago but this was it bit of a boring read in many places. I think your enjoyment will depend on your personal interest of science, biology and animal studies.