Summary
We're so used to Charles Darwin and so accepting of his conclusions - that the Old Testament, Noah and the ark, was all bunk and that life had developed by survival of the fittest individuals - we forget how utterly contrary his views first appeared.
Peter Nichols unearths that story in Evolution's Captain: The Dark Fate of the Man Who Sailed Charles Darwin around the World (Harper Collins, $24.95, 352 pages), a careful and well-written account of Darwin's best friend and fellow scientist, Capt. Robert FitzRoy. The aristocratic FitzRoy, related to Britain's royal family and the originator of modern weather forecasting, was literally driven to madness and suicide by his repugnance at Darwin's ideas.See the full content of this document
Extract
Darwin's Captain, Mutiny and Trade
An excellent seaman and captain, FitzRoy navigated the ship Beagle which carried the young Darwin on his five-year voyage of zoological discovery. The two men became fast friends, as Darwin had not yet begun to extrapolate his revolutionary theory about evolution - in fact he approved the highly religious FitzRoy's frantic ...
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