Moth Eyes

Today is the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s masterpiece, the first edition of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. It’s been a while since I last read it, and my view of evolution has changed several times since – so I’m not going to try and review it. I will say that it’s well worth a read

I had originally hoped to finish The Voyage of the Beagle well before this date, but my unexpectedly starting an honour’s degree got somewhat in the way of that: thus the now 6-month delay on that! As soon as I get this thesis finished (I will finish it… I will finish it… I will finish it…) I’ll get back on it.

Galileo Galilei, born 15 Feb 1564, has been described as the “Father of Modern Science”. His observations helped provide important evidence for the heliocentric theory and to destroy the Aristotelian notion of the “unchanging perfection of the heavens”. He also promoted the idea that the laws of nature are mathematical in nature. His rejection of philosophical and religious authority in favour of experimental results helped to separate science from philosophy and theology.
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Charles Darwin revolutioned the study of natural history when he published his major book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life on November 24, 1859, at the age of 50. Today, meanwhile, is the 200th anniversary of his birth. To help celebrate Darwin’s birthday, I might have, say, blogged about this major book, but someone much more qualified than me has just done that.

So, instead, I’m going to start blogging one of Darwin’s other major books, The Voyage of the Beagle (published as Journals and Researches), chapter by chapter. There are 21 chapters and I’ll be aiming for one every second day, but we’ll see how that goes. I’ll post the first one this afternoon.