“You care for noting but shooting, dogs and rat-catching,” his father once told him, “and you will be a disgrace to yourself and all your family.” It was not much of a comment on a man who had an enormous influence on the life sciences – and beyond.
Charles Darwin, aged just 21, left England in late 1831 and spent the next five years as naturalist on board His Majesty’s Ship Beagle. This 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy was less than 30 metres long. Eleven years old in 1831 she was used as a research vessel.
Aboard, the young scientist’s space was distinctly limited. His entire “laboratory” was a corner of the chart table. He slept in a hammock over the table after first removing a drawer to make room for his feet. Yet from these cramped and crowded conditions came the solution of evolution and, 25 years later, his famed
On the Origin of Species.
Following the Darwinian revolution, scientists had a solid framework on which to hang the history of the Earth and its life, wrote L. Sprague de Camp. This caused a great surge of activity in the fields of biology and geology.
This year, we will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth, 12 February 1809 and also the 150th anniversary of the publication of the research encouraged by his voyage, On the Origin of Species.
The original Beagle was built at Woolwich Dockyard, London, at a cost of £7,803. Now a replica is expected to run to at least £5-million when she is completed at Milford Haven, Wales. The new Beagle will look almost exactly like her namesake from the outside will be the GPS on the mast. Inside it will be another matter. Two auxiliary diesel engines will be aboard along with radar, lab equipment and considerably more comfortable accommodation for the 30 crew and scientists.
The ship is expected to set sail next year. She will follow the blooms of plankton across the oceans, directed to them by NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Surprisingly little is known about this part of oceanic life, a vital key to many processes, including the health of the planet.
For more on the rebuilt Beagle and her proposed voyage, visit
thebeagleproject.com. The science research journal Nature has background on Darwin and lists many events taking place around the world this year online at
nature.com/darwin.
