HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

Evolution's Captain: The Tragic Fate of Robert Fitzroy, the Man Who Sailed Charles Darwin Around the World (2003)

by Peter Nichols

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
309684,119 (3.8)6
"When HMS Beagle's first captain committed suicide in the bleak waters of Tierra del Fuego in 1828, he was replaced by a young naval officer of a new mould. Robert FitzRoy was the most brilliant and scientific sea captain of his age. He used the Beagle, a survey vessel, as a laboratory for the new field of the natural sciences. But his plan to bring four 'savages' home to England to civilize them as Christian gentlefolk backfired when scandal loomed over their sexual misbehaviour at the Walthamstow Infants School. FitzRoy needed to get them out of England fast, and thus was born the second, and most famous voyage of the Beagle." "FitzRoy feared the loneliness of another long voyage - with madness in his own family, he was haunted by the fate of his predecessor - so for company he took with him a young amateur naturalist, Charles Darwin. Like FitzRoy, Darwin believed, at the beginning of the voyage, in the absolute word of the Bible. The two men spent five years circling the globe together, but by the end of their voyage, they had reached startlingly different conclusions about the origins of the natural world." "In naval terms, the voyage was a stunning scientific success. But FitzRoy, a passionate Christian, was horrified by Darwin's heretical theories. As these began to influence the profoundest levels of religious and scientific thinking in the nineteenth century, FitzRoy's knowledge that he had provided the young naturalist with the vehicle for his sacrilegious ideas propelled him down an irrevocable path to suicide."--BOOK JACKET.… (more)
  1. 00
    The Darwin Conspiracy by John Darnton (fyrefly98)
    fyrefly98: The Darwin Conspiracy is a fictionalized mystery surrounding Darwin's time on the Beagle - I recommend reading Evolution's Captain first as background.
None
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 6 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)
So glad that I finally pulled this book off of my shelf to read. It has given me valuable insight into the character, as well as the trials and tribulations, of Captain Robert FitzRoy who was responsible for taking Charles Darwin around the world on the H.M.S. Beagle. It's wonderful when a story helps to provide a better understanding and picture of a voyage of such historical significance. ( )
  linsleo | Nov 4, 2018 |
Interesting story about a peripheral aspect of Darwin's journey on the Beagle. ( )
  ndpmcIntosh | Mar 21, 2016 |
A good history behind Darwin's expeditions and a look at the mental illness and it's treatments (or lack thereof) in the past. ( )
  jessiejluna | Jun 23, 2013 |
The author finds a new way to explore the Charles Darwin story that hasn't been done before: through an autobiography of Captain Fitzroy. This is a very good treatment of the troubled captain, removing the stereotypes that have surrounded him for so long, and fleshing out the man, who was a contributor in his own right to modern science. ( )
  Devil_llama | Apr 19, 2011 |
I originally bought this book because the subject matter seemed very interesting. The story of the captain behind Darwin is rarely told, however the author ruins the story by poor writing. Paragraphs about separate ideas are put together with little to no transition giving the book a jumpy, incomplete feeling. It made the book too difficult to read for me which was highly disappointing since the story seemed to have so much promise. ( )
  LVassmer | Feb 18, 2011 |
Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

"When HMS Beagle's first captain committed suicide in the bleak waters of Tierra del Fuego in 1828, he was replaced by a young naval officer of a new mould. Robert FitzRoy was the most brilliant and scientific sea captain of his age. He used the Beagle, a survey vessel, as a laboratory for the new field of the natural sciences. But his plan to bring four 'savages' home to England to civilize them as Christian gentlefolk backfired when scandal loomed over their sexual misbehaviour at the Walthamstow Infants School. FitzRoy needed to get them out of England fast, and thus was born the second, and most famous voyage of the Beagle." "FitzRoy feared the loneliness of another long voyage - with madness in his own family, he was haunted by the fate of his predecessor - so for company he took with him a young amateur naturalist, Charles Darwin. Like FitzRoy, Darwin believed, at the beginning of the voyage, in the absolute word of the Bible. The two men spent five years circling the globe together, but by the end of their voyage, they had reached startlingly different conclusions about the origins of the natural world." "In naval terms, the voyage was a stunning scientific success. But FitzRoy, a passionate Christian, was horrified by Darwin's heretical theories. As these began to influence the profoundest levels of religious and scientific thinking in the nineteenth century, FitzRoy's knowledge that he had provided the young naturalist with the vehicle for his sacrilegious ideas propelled him down an irrevocable path to suicide."--BOOK JACKET.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.8)
0.5
1 1
1.5
2 2
2.5
3 6
3.5 2
4 19
4.5 3
5 5

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,224,688 books! | Top bar: Always visible