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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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Editor 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.
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.
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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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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Chris O'Hearn
- 15-10-20
Surprisingly entertaining
The Voyage of the Beagle was intended for a general audience, although by that I think Darwin still assumed a high level of education and understanding. It comes across as a very personal account with many observations, comments and humour.
There are times that it dwells in some detail on the scientific aspects and there is quite a bit of jargon and Latin biological terms. With an audio book it is of course difficult to look these up so it would have been helpful to have some additional annotations.
The one aspect I really didn't like was the narration. Barnaby Edwards' style is very formal and veers between sounding sneering and sarcastic to patronising and arch, with strange emphasis on certain words and phrases. It isn't so much read as acted, in a way that would have sounded over the top 50 years ago.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- I. A. Clark
- 19-09-21
Would you have guessed Darwin wrote a best-seller?
I waded through The Origin of Species, and The Descent Of Man because it was a worthy thing to do.
I sailed through The Voyage Of The Beagle because I couldn't help it. An absolute page-turner (supposing you can turn pages in an audiobook).
Yes there's lots of dry Latin names for animals – it's why the book was written, after all. But everything else is high adventure. Not the sort of summer holiday a protective momma wants to send her little darling on – especially since the 2-year trip turned into 5.
Not much about the time afloat either: it's less yo-ho-ho and more cowboys and injuns. Though Darwin is one of those people who cheers the injuns. Elsewhere it's sheer Edward Lear – except it's all true.
One quibble about the presentation: there are no pauses at the full-stops. This makes it hard to follow: the narrator seems to change the topic without taking a breath. All the more surprising because his uber-precise RP takes longer to enunciate than the natural flow of speech. I can't believe the narrator recorded it this way. If editing out expressive pauses is the vendor's way of fitting it all onto a set number of tapes, it's come close to ruining the production. But – hey! – it's worth persevering, and you get used to it.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Colin bateson
- 18-10-22
Excellent performance and story.
Excellent performance and story wth racist elements of the time. The racism forgivable because of era when written.
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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
- Amazon Customer
- 04-05-23
Absolutely brilliant
worth a read. very interesting and informative. Exposes some realities in life. Very good. throughly wellenjoyed it.
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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
- constant reviewer
- 11-12-19
One Planet
Astounding! It seems as if Charles Darwin watched all episodes of David Attenborough's 'Life on Earth' and then translated into the written word. Who Knew?
If this doesn't convince you that the planet needs to be saved, then nothing will.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Neil Fox
- 27-05-22
A naturalists delight
For anyone with an interest in Darwin's theories and discovering more about the man himself this audio book is essential listening. Not only is his undoubted knowledge and intellect revealed but also his sense of adventure and the risks he had to take to gather the knowledge that supported his great work The Origin of the Species. The reading is measured and clear and if a little slow at times this is required by the amount of detail contained in the narrative.
However, if the listener wants a sea -borne adventure story with little interest in the flora, fauna and geological minutiae this isn't the book for you.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Robbie Robertson
- 20-09-23
a fantastic read
the story and quality of the narrator is perfect! what a wonderful read....one of my best ever discoveries on Audible.
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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
- Kraded
- 09-12-19
Fantastic
Wasn't sure what to expect here.
it is superbly written and the science is outstanding.
The fortelling of evolution by the man who discovered it was a treat to listen too.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 13-11-21
darwin's views and perception on others
A good insight on the period and times of the people and there attitude cruelty and the barbaric nature towards others.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Nino Bennett
- 08-03-23
Absolutely fascinated
If you can get over the imperialism, colonialism, racism, and bigotry of the times, it is a fantastic book by superior intelligence, who already looked like he was so close to his most famous discovery
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