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The Voyage of the Beagle
- Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
- Length: 25 hrs and 17 mins
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The Voyage of the Beagle
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Publisher's Summary
”I hate every wave of the ocean”, the seasick Charles Darwin wrote to his family during his five-year voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle. It was this world-wide journey, however, that launched the scientists career.
The Voyage of the Beagle is Darwin's fascinating account of his trip - of his biological and geological observations and collection activities, of his speculations about the causes and theories behind scientific phenomena, of his interactions with various native peoples, of his beautiful descriptions of the lands he visited, and of his amazing discoveries in the Galapagos archipelago.
Although scientific in nature, the literary quality rivals those of John Muir and Henry Thoreau. Charles Robert Darwin, FRS (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection. Darwin published his theory with compelling evidence for evolution in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species, overcoming scientific rejection of earlier concepts of transmutation of species.
By the 1870s the scientific community and much of the general public had accepted evolution as a fact. However, many favoured competing explanations and it was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed in which natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution. In modified form, Darwin's scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, explaining the diversity of life.
Editorial reviews
Barnaby Edwards narrates this lengthy, gorgeously detailed book. Racked with nausea and homesickness, novice surveyor Darwin still managed to thoughtfully and minutely detail his five-year voyage on the H. M. S. Beagle. During this long collection expedition Darwin began to formulate methods and ideas for defining life on Earth through the lens of the natural world. This quest would eventually yield Darwin the theory of evolution. Darwin’s youth, passion, braininess, and precise speech evidence themselves in this analytical but highly personal travelogue. Edwards lets the text do the talking, and through his refined English accent the listener is transported to the rough and wildly exotic terrains Darwin is exploring. Mirroring Darwin, Edwards sounds restrained and civilized but awed by the new worlds unfolding before him.
What listeners say about The Voyage of the Beagle
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Robert Moore
- 13-06-2021
Excellent book perfect for biologists
People whining it is boring, more than likely have no scientific training. Excellent book, the writing really take you there.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Daniel
- 28-08-2024
Surprising Great!
Picked this book up as a challenge to myself (25m) as I live in the Blue Mountains in Australia and there is so many markers of where Darwin was. I decided I should actually read the source material.
Was happily surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. The narrator brings it alive and provides a classy British zest to it.
This book made me realised the 19th century really wasn’t actually that long ago and we are still dealing with the same problems as before. In the chapter about Australia, Darwin explains that locals in Sydney were complaining about the price of property! 200 years later, here we are again.
This book made today’s world’s problems feel smaller and relevant, but also made me realise they are not new problems. If anything, we’ve come very far environmentally conscious wise then many early explorers were back then.
My favourite part was right at the end where Darwin says travelling allows you to look at a map and not see random lines and markers, but see a landscape of pictures and memories. It makes you see the world as a whole that you are part of.
Would highly recommend for a brilliant and different look into the past
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- richard Carver
- 24-02-2022
outstanding
an outstanding insight in to one histories truely great scientists - you hear his reasoning in a simple an understanding way
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Barry
- 05-04-2022
what can you say
history from the words of a legendary man a fascinating insight into his journey and mind.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Pierre Moore
- 22-05-2022
Incredibly interesting throughout
I really admire Charles Darwin for his observational abilities, You don't have to totally agree with all of his theories, although most of them make logical sense. His five year round the world trip in HMS Beagle would have been so enlightening. I have an illustrated print copy as well as this Audible version and suggest that they make an excellent combination. I think toward the latter part of his trip he was not so intensely observant as he was in the first half; I live in New Zealand and his comments on this country show he didn't really have an opportunity to have a good look around. I thought the narrator was excellent with just the right tone and accent; you could imagine CD recounting it himself.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Geoff Alford
- 28-11-2018
Mind numbingly boring, great cure for insomnia
Couldn’t get past the first two hours without being put to sleep. Should be advertised as more of a text book for naturalists. I returned it.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- John Muser
- 24-12-2018
Boredom
Too hard to listen to, was poorly written and doesn’t flow. Couldn’t get pat chapter 1.
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