When people think about reading something written by Charles Darwin, the book that almost always comes to mind is “The Origin of Species,” which is understandable but probably misleading, at least for the first-time reader.
Don’t get me wrong: “The Origin” is a book and a crucial tome for the history of biology, but it requires a good dose of patience and discipline. For a first contact with Darwin, however, it is worth getting to know his side as a curious and playful young man, and, in this sense, none of his works surpass “The Beagle’s Voyage”, which has just received a new and well-kept edition in Brazil.
Darwin spent almost five years (from 1831 to 1836) aboard HMS Beagle, a British Royal Navy ship commanded by Captain Robert FitzRoy. He was only 22 years old when he came aboard and, in the following years, he would travel around the world with the vessel, passing through several South American countries (including two visits to Brazil) and also visiting Oceania and Africa, in addition to the now famous Galapagos Islands in the Pacific.
Darwin’s observations of geology, flora, and fauna were important to his understanding of planetary natural history and the future development of evolutionary theory. But, by far, the element that shines through most in the book is the pure and unmistakable treat to immerse yourself in the natural world.
For someone who would later have many health problems, face some family tragedies and the controversy surrounding his work as a scientist, it is simply beautiful to see how he felt at home – or inside a huge amusement park – when he was in front of from nature. The following passage, about the scenario around Rio de Janeiro, is characteristic:
“The magnificence of every form and every shadow so completely surpasses anything a European has ever seen in his own country that he does not know how to express his feelings. The general effect used to bring to my mind the most gaudy scenery of the opera or of the great theaters. I never returned from such excursions empty-handed.”
The new edition of “A Viagem do Beagle”, published by Edipro, has translation and notes by Daniel Moreira Miranda and a preface by Argentine specialist Héctor Palma.
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