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Darwin's Armada: Four Voyages and the Battle for the Theory of Evolution

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Darwin's Armada: Four Voyages and the Battle for the Theory of Evolution
Readers have many new books on Charles Darwin and evolution to choose from in this bicentennial year of Darwin's birth. Darwin's Armada surely must rank among the better ones suitable for a broad audience. It consists of five parts. The first four recount the exploration expedition experiences of Darwin, Joseph Hooker, Thomas Huxley, and Alfred Wallace. The fifth describes the events surrounding the publication of Darwin's and Wallace's papers on evolution and the subsequent battles to win support for their theory.

The first four sections serve as good short biographies for significant parts of these men's careers, particularly useful to readers not already versed in the lives of one or more of them. McCalman, a distinguished Australian professor, places emphasis on their southern Pacific experiences, though not exclusively. None of the four was an accomplished naturalist when they first set out on their respective voyages, and one of the values of McCalman's accounts is to show how they learned on the job. He highlights how Darwin and Wallace, in particular, developed evolutionary insights from their observations of animals and plants in isolated island habitats.

McCalman underscores the social class differences among these men, and illustrates how class affected their careers and interactions with the scientific community. Darwin was from a distinguished family, but Wallace fit with the working-class and was self-educated. Hooker and Huxley fit in between, and both struggled financially at times.

I found Part Five "The Armada at War, 1859-82" to be the most rewarding. It shows how the connections among these men coalesced and why they mattered. Hooker and Darwin became friends since the mid 1840s and Hooker served as the principal sounding board for the ideas Darwin was developing about evolution. Huxley, whom Darwin first met in 1853, had to be won over, but he ultimately became the most effective publicist for Darwin's views.

The action intensifies in 1858 when Darwin received Wallace's paper "On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type," which closely aligned with Darwin's own ideas about evolution, not yet published. Darwin's friends, particularly Hooker and the geologist Charles Lyell, were concerned that Darwin not be pre-empted, and they quickly arranged for the joint reading of Darwin and Wallace papers at the Linnean Society on July 1, 1858. McCalman provides a fine account of that proceeding. He concludes that Darwin's friends had sought to advance Darwin's position versus that of Wallace, but that without their efforts Wallace's paper would likely have received no hearing.

McCalman does a good job of summarizing certain similarities and differences between the ideas of Darwin and Wallace. He mildly suggests that social class played a role in the ascendency of Darwin as the recognized innovator. Darwin clearly had one advantage: he had the leisure in 1858-1859 to pull together his thoughts into On the Origin of Species, while Wallace was still busy trying to earn a living collecting in the Malay Archipelago. Darwin would later help to arrange a government pension for Wallace.

The book begins and ends with Darwin's 1882 funeral at Westminster Abbey, a venue promoted by Huxley, ever the publicist. Huxley, Hooker, and Wallace were among the pallbearers.

McCalman offers another perspective on Darwin's humanity and his travails in the synthesis of his great theories. Hooker, Huxley and Wallace cajoled and drove Darwin to complete The Origin and then helped him to defend it. McCalman captures the mood of the period and each scientist's journey is an insight into the cogitations of an innovative thinker. This history is very readable - one can smell the sea air, feel the debilitating aspects of long ocean voyages and empathise with Darwin as he gathers evidence from around the world. If McCalman's armada sparks a deeper interest in the life and times of Darwin, try the insightful biography by Adrian Desmond and James Moore.

This is a wonderful book. It is well written and easy to read.

The author retells the stories of men whose names are often well known to students of the Life Sciences, but whose lives are not. In retelling the stories of these men whose work gave rise to the Theory of Evolution, the book brings to life the process by way of which the concept of evolution was developed and refined. Along the way, it utterly destroys the tired old Creationist/ID claim that the whole idea of evolution is "only" just one man's "theory", and not backed by any evidence.

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"It is so often forgotten that what had brought these four very different and distinguished Victorian figures together so as to be 'strengthened in brotherly love' was their separate participation as young men in daring scientific voyages of exploration to the southern oceans. These four voyages created 'a Masonic bond' as a result of being 'well salted in early life.' The voyagers were tested, emotionally, physically, and intellectually, and they felt themselves transformed in the deepest sense--as scientists and as people...

Through their South Sea odysseys, these four young, romantically-minded amateur naturalists gained access to one of the richest, natural laboratories on the globe. They each discovered evidence from which to build new scientific theories, and each stored life-long memories of common experience of hardship and pleasure that bound them together like shipmates. Out of these southern adventures grew their friendship, their interlocking scientific interests, and finally their joint participation in Darwin's evolution war. The southern oceans were the training ground of the seamen who would lead Darwin's armada to ultimate victory."

The above comes from the prologue of the fascinating book by Iain McCalman, an award-winning professor at the University of Sydney.

The "four...Victorian figures" and their voyages referred to above are as follows:

(1) Charles Darwin (1809 to 1882). Voyage date: 1831 to 1836. Lands explored: South America, Africa, Australia, and many small islands such as the Galapagos Islands.

(2) Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817 to 1911). Voyage date: 1839 to 1843. Lands explored: Africa, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, and many small islands such as the Falkland Islands. (He later became known as Sir Hooker.)

(3) Thomas Huxley (1825 to 1895). Voyage date: 1846 to 1850. Lands explored: Australia, New Guinea, and small islands such as the Louisiade Archipelago. (He later became known as "Darwin's Bulldog.")

(4) Alfred Russel Wallace (1823 to 1913). Voyages collective date: 1848 to 1866. Lands explored: Amazon, South-East Asia. (He is known as evolution's "co-discoverer.")

It is the first four parts of this book that tells the true story of each of these scientists' voyages. These parts are well-written. Each part has a map of the actual voyage taken.

The exceptionally well-written last part explains how these four got together in the interest of science. Hooker, Huxley, and Wallace crucially influenced the publication and reception of Darwin's masterpiece, "On the Origin of Species" (1859).

Finally, included are the actual writings of these four great men. Peppered throughout the book are black and white photographs. In the book's center are located almost thirty colour photographs.

In conclusion, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in how the theory of evolution developed!!

(first American edition published 2009; prologue; 5 parts or 15 chapters; epilogue; main narrative 375 pages; notes; bibliography; acknowledgements; index)

<<Stephen Pletko, London, Ontario, Canada>>

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Charles Darwin set off on the voyage of the H.M. S. Beagle in part because he had been inspired by earlier voyages by Humboldt and others. The world was still largely unexplored and of course the British Navy had several motives in exploring it further, including commerce and military intelligence about depths and coastlines, should it be required. In the process Darwin was able to collect a large number of specimens and make numerous observations which laid the groundwork for the Theory of Natural Selection. But, as Iain McCalman points out in his book "Darwin's Armada: Four Voyages and the Battle for the Theory of Evolution", Darwin was not the only biologist who would be both involved in evolutionary theory and in nautical adventures. Darwin's later associates Joseph Hooker and Thomas Henry Huxley would also be traveling on extended expeditions aboard naval ships. Hooker with the Ross Expedition to Antarctica (1839-43) aboard the H.M.S. Erebus (accompanied by the H.M.S. Terror) and Huxley to Australia and New Guinea (1846-50) aboard the H.M.S. Rattlesnake. In addition from 1848 to 1866, Alfred Russel Wallace, the co-discoverer of the Theory of Natural Selection, sailed on various ships to the Amazon and Southeast Asia. He was an amateur who was not an official naturalist, or even an assistant as Hooker was, or a surgeon's mate as Huxley was, and he had to fund his expeditions by collecting for others. However, despite their disparate backgrounds the four men became strong allies after the Theory of Natural Selection was announced at a meeting of the Linnaean Society in 1858.

Ian McCalman has captured the drama of the expeditions and also the very human attributes of the men involved. Darwin had some issues with his captain, Robert Fitzroy, and after returning to England was troubled by health problems and the death of a beloved daughter. Hooker was often unsure of himself during the voyage and was censured by his father for not doing more, while Huxley was reluctant to leave his ship and was often depressed and worried about his relationship with his future wife. Wallace lost most of his collections and notes from the Amazon in a ship fire and came to his conclusions about Natural Selection in a bout of malaria. Yet these men persevered to become the founders and supporters of evolutionary theory.

McCalman has examined a much written-about period in scientific discovery and has produced a fresh perspective based on the main participants shipboard expeditions. This is a very readable account of the development of evolutionary theory during its early days and how each man became converted to the idea that became the basis for modern biological science. I recommend this book highly.

I have read perhaps two or three dozen books on the lives of Darwin and his contemporaries. The first Darwin biography that I read over 10 years ago started my continuing interest in Victorian science.

A review in a popular periodical led me to purchase "Dawin's Armada." While relatively slim compared to some of the tomes on Darwin, Huxley, and others, it is so well written that it was a delight to read McCalman's presentation of much that I already knew. I found myself smiling, laughing and then at times coming close to tears and he illuminated the humanity of these wonderful scientists.

As far as a detailed description of the contents, please see the other excellent reviews here on Amazon. I just wanted to add another vote of 4 stars for the joyous experience of reading this book.

This book follows the journeys of Darwin, and his lesser known counterparts who followed - Hooker, Huxley, Wallace. It is a fascinating look at how several people all began the seeds of evolutionary thought mostly independent of each other, and how Darwin became the one we associate today with evolution. Easy to read and engaging.

This book offers personal portraits of four men about 1830-60, culminating with highly coordinated teamwork which successfully overthrew the established religious and scientific community in the end. 23-year-old Charles Darwin, an unformed young man, privileged by birth, aspiring novelist and naturalist, feeling pressure from his father to become a country parson, set sail from Britain in The Beagle in 1931. He had been taken on as a sort of "human antidepressant" to intellectually entertain Captain FitzRoy whose predecessor had killed himself out of boredom and despair during the ship's previous excursion. The naval ship was charting coasts; Darwin's aspirations were for adventure and to establish himself as an inspirational writer and naturalist. Although he had failed at school, his academic mind ignited early in the voyage, and his enthusiasm drove the titled naturalist on board to abandon the voyage, having been overshadowed.

His journal became The Voyage of the Beagle, an extraordinary book which would be an important companion to this one. But it does not give the depth of insight into the man that McCalman gives here. In The Voyage we see the world from Darwin's eyes. Here we see Darwin himself - his background, his motivations, his personal thoughts gleaned from letters and notes.

The first 300 pages cover, in turn, Darwin, Joseph Hooker (botanist); Thomas Huxley (marine biologist and socialist); and Alfred Wallace (collector of species) with the same thoroughness and depth of character analysis. The reader will appreciate each of these remarkable men but Darwin, the eldest and first traveler, was the clear leader. His main sticking point came by mail June 18, 1858, in a letter from Wallace who was at that time an impoverished specimen collector and novice naturalist, then in Indonesia. He had sent, for comment, an unfinished paper summarizing the very crux of what Darwin had himself been working on for two decades. Darwin, Huxley, Hooker, and Darwin's mentor and friend Charles Lyle (geologist) cleverly navigated the situation. Just as impressive was Wallace's magnanimous acceptance of his gently but firmly assigned back seat. Wallace, never bitter, was to join the entourage whose tight friendship and close work was an extraordinary part of this extraordinary story. The final chapters of the book tell the unleashing of the theory, under Darwin's command, to be met by a hostile religious and scientific community. The counterattack was well executed and the Armada won.

Wallace's tragic personal story, his parallel discovery, his welcome into the fold, his defection from it, and his salvation years later help make this a story of friendship as well as one of extreme scientific consequence. All four men are deeply likable. And when they let loose their theory, they did it with the skill of a military campaign: warding off vicious attacks and returning them with precision. McCalman did well choosing "Armada" as metaphor. These men were formed, in large part, by their world voyages and the character they gained on the water braced them for the revolution they were to mount, launch, execute, and win.

Anyone interested in the subject matter will find this book by Australian history professor Iain McCalman very satisfying.