Hms Beagle: The Story of Darwin's Ship - Hardcover

Thomson, Keith Stewart

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393037789 ISBN 13: 9780393037784

Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, 1995

Synopsis

For such a famous ship, surprisingly little has been known about HMS Beagle, from the details of her construction to her final resting place. While the "Darwin Voyage" has been celebrated in the history of exploration, her other two voyages - a prior survey of South America, including Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn, and the first complete exploration of the coasts of Australia - are less well known.
Keith Thomson has created a biography of this ship and its crew whose voyages figured so prominently in the natural science of the 1830s and 1840s, starting with the discovery of plans that show how she was laid down, through her three major rebuildings, reconstruction of the cabin in which Darwin lived and worked, and ending with her last days in 1870, standing lonely vigil off the coast of England as Watch Vessel 7.

About this title

About the Author:

Keith S. Thomson, Ph.D., is president of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.

From AudioFile:

Even if this quite ordinary ship hadn't happened to carry the young Charles Darwin on his seminal voyage of discovery, its history would provide a fascinating snapshot of an important period in British maritime history. The text is dense in detail with a good deal of redundancy. As a general interest audiobook, it would be improved by abridgment. After a somewhat stiff opening, Stuart Langton warms to his task and gives a listenable reading with as much color and variety as the material allows. Whoever finds it necessary or convenient to listen rather than read will find this a satisfactory rendering. J.N. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0393037789
• ISBN 13: 9780393037784
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320