Bad Astronomy

Darwin blogs the Beagle voyage

This is the International Year of Astronomy, but we must give squishy science its due: it’s also the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s On The Origin Of Species, a work that forever influenced biological science. His observations aboard the HMS Beagle led to this seminal work, as Darwin voyaged across the planet observing plants and animals in various environs.

In honor of that, why not read Darwin’s Beagle diaries… as a blog? This is a very clever idea. The entries are posted in blog form, with geocaching and images to help you see what’s what. It’s actually very engaging and wonderful.

I have long said that science is a process as well as a compendium of information. Here is your chance to see it not only as a process, but a very human one, and to see how the observations of science changed the human who made them, and the rest of us as well.

Tip o’ the allele to Laurie Tarr.