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Darwin's Armada: Four Voyages and the Battle for the Theory of Evolution [Iain McCalman] Darwin's Armada and millions of other books are available for Amazon Kindle. . Start reading Darwin's Armada on your Kindle in under a minute. Darwin's Armada: Four Voyages and the Battle for the Theory of Evolution but few know about the Southern Ocean Voyages of their contemporaries, Joseph.
The Dark Pages - the home of crooks and villains, mobsters and terrorists, spies and private eyes. See More New Releases. Darwin's Armadatells the stories of Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley, Joseph Hooker and Alfred Wallace, four young amateur naturalists from Britain who voyaged to the southern hemisphere during the first half of the nineteenth century in search of adventure and scientific fame.
It charts their thrilling voyages to the strange and beautiful lands of the southern hemisphere that reshaped the young mariners' scientific ideas and led them, on returning to Britain, to befriend fellow voyager Charles Darwin. All three crucially influenced the publication and reception of his Origin of Speciesin , one of the formative texts of the modern world.
For the first time the Darwinian revolution of ideas is seen as a genuinely collective enterprise and one that had its birth in a series of gripping and human travel adventures. Iain McCalman's offering takes a broader view than most, which is both its strength and its weakness. It offers something that the alternatives don't, and makes it a worthy addition to the bookshelf of any Darwin afficionado.
However, for the casual reader picking their way through a crowded marketplace, there are more closely focused looks at Darwin and his achievements, that should be their first port of call. Judged strictly on its own merits, Darwin's Armada is well worth taking a look at.
For anyone looking for a gentle read, but with some substance, it's a great choice. It's more historical travelogue, rather than popular science - Iain McCalman's writing has a lyrical quality to it that makes it particularly easy to read.
You can read more book reviews or buy Darwin's Armada: At times the stories bog down in detail, which is why I gave it 4 stars. The author provides details about their early lives and travels, and suggests that part of their bonding had to do with their all having gone through the travails of their sea voyages, although that hypothesis is hardly central to the book. Their strengths, vices, fears, and passions were amazing to read, and their raw dedication through 19th century travel to the unknown was fantastic. This book addresses the early years of evolutionary theory, reminding us of the background to it's formation. The Navy were helpful but not generous in aiding scientific progress but these problems were overcome with determination, courage and a strong vision of what should be discovered.
It will really appeal to people who tend to steer clear of non-fiction, but feel they ought to know a bit more about Charles Darwin. If you let your mind wander for a couple of pages, you would be forgiven for thinking you were reading a historical novel.
Darwin's Armada will strike a real chord with its target audience, but that target audience wasn't me. Going for a wider overview is obviously the whole point of the book, but condensing Darwin's 5 year journey on the Beagle to a little over 60 pages made it feel unnecessarily light. A page book shouldn't feel like just a taster - you should come away with a much deeper understanding of the men, their life and their works.
Whilst it achieves everything it aims to do, with so many Darwin books on the market, readers should pick the one that's perfect for them.