The Voyage of Charles Darwin

Cover Type: Hardcover
Book Condition: Good
Jacket Condition: Good
Publisher: British Broadcasting Corporation
Publisher Place: London
Publisher Year: 1978
Edition: First Edition

Description: 74 pages. Book and Jacket are both in Good condition. There is some light shelf and reading wear and light age marks on the inside page, but still a presentable copy. This Presents For The First Time A Selection Of Darwin's Autobiographical Writingfs In A Single Volume Illustrating The Events And Scenes Of That Momentous Journey.

Publishers Description: If style is the man, then Darwin is truly revealed by his pen. Here, in this delightful collection of excerpts from the journals he kept during his five-year odyssey on the Beagle and from his later autobiography, the basic characteristics of the personality come alive: the cautious genius, the consummate collector, the careful eye, the ever-musing introvert, the dogged rationalist - but also the righteous and sometimes angry man. Of course, the writings can be combed for the glimmers of what was to come, in the Origin and in the Descent of Man. There are plenty of asides as Darwin does his "geologizing" in the journals, expressing wonder at the forces of nature and lengths of time needed to have raised the mountain ranges of western South America, for example. There is fascination, too, as he tracks the Galapagos Islands, absorbed by the gradations of size and variety of finch bills, bemused by the giant tortoises, put off by the ugliness of the marine iguana. But savor the sentences, too. On a tropically hot day: ". . .when in bed, it is I am sure like what one would feel if stewed in very warm melted butter." On getting a passport: "It is never very pleasant to submit to the insolence of men in office, but to the Brazilians, who are as contemptible in their minds as their persons are miserable, it is nearly intolerable." Or this note following a record earthquake in Chile: "It was remarked with much truth, that from the destruction being universal no one individual was humbled more than another, or could suspect his friends of coldness - that most grievous result of the loss of wealth. . ." Many biographers and scientists have remarked on the pleasures of reading Darwin, and this is not the first attempt to give the reader a taste. What Railing has done, however, is to select rich samples that show development over the years and allow Darwin to comment as an old man on such matters as religion, the family, relations with others, and so on. Maps and four-color photos set off Darwins vivid descriptions in this altogether rewarding excursion into Darwin land. (Kirkus Reviews)

ISBN: 0563176024