In 1831 Charles Darwin set sail on his famous voyage aboard the Beagle
Built as a gun ship for the Royal Navy the Beagle’s first use was in celebrating the coronation of King George IV. It saw no action as a military vessel but was kept as a reserve ship. Then in 1826 she was modified as a survey ship ready for her maiden voyage on the 22nd of May which was a four year mission to Patagonia (the southern tip of South America). It was her second voyage that made the Beagle famous when it set sail on the 27th of December 1831 surveying South America and returning via New Zealand and back to England on the 2nd of October 1836. It was one of the crew members aboard that would make the ship famous, a young Charles Darwin and it was his experiences on this voyage that would later allow him to create his theory “evolution by natural selection”. But Darwin was not aboard with the job of surveyor or even a scientific role, Darwin very nearly didn’t make it aboard at all but the position he secured was that of “Gentlemen’s Companion”. This role was basically to keep the captain company and thus prevent him from going mad on the five year mission at sea. Darwin’s diary of the mission became very popular and would later be known as “The Voyage of the Beagle.
The infamous Beagle voyage from which ‘Origins’ was inspired, began in 1832 and traversed thirty-thousand miles of Ocean in five years, five weeks of which were spent in the Galapagos. Darwin was not originally a naturalist although he had a keen interest in the natural world. Although Darwin made many discoveries on various islands along the journey it was the discoveries on the Galapagos Islands that would have the greatest impact leading him to his famous conclusion. Darwin observed many species animals on the islands particularly turtles and birds. On each island the species were slightly different and these differences appeared to be particularly suited to the different plant life of each islands. It appeared as if each animal had changed to suit its environment but this theory of evolution wasn’t new and in fact his own father was a strong believer in this theory. What Darwin did was explain how this evolution was driven.
When a mutation of an animal occurred naturally, as they do, the mutation can be an asset or a curse to the animal. If the mutation provides an advantage to the animal’s survival, such as the birds with longer beaks that allowed them to get to the nectar deep in the plant, then they are more likely to survive and reproduce. If that mutation is passed on to their off-spring then they too have the advantage and will live longer allowing them too to mate more often. Eventually the mutation will become widespread and this new species will thrive. This led to the slightly misleading phrase “survival of the fittest” which was first coined by English Philosopher, Herbert Spencer after he read Charles Darwin’s book “On the Origin of Species” which contained his theory and was first published on the 24th of November 1859.
