Collecting Evolution
The Galapagos Expedition that Vindicated Darwin
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
In 1905, eight men from the California Academy of Sciences set sail from San Francisco for a scientific collection expedition in the Galapagos Islands, and by the time they were finished in 1906, they had completed one of the most important expeditions in the history of both evolutionary and conservation science. These scientists collected over 78,000 specimens during their time on the islands, validating the work of Charles Darwin and laying the groundwork for foundational evolution texts like Darwin's Finches. Despite its significance, almost nothing has been written on this voyage, lost amongst discussion of Darwin's trip on the Beagle and the writing of David Lack.
In Collecting Evolution, author Matthew James finally tells the story of the 1905 Galapagos expedition. James follows these eight young men aboard the Academy to the Galapagos and back, and reveals the reasons behind the groundbreaking success they had. A current Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, James uses his access to unpublished writings and photographs to provide unprecedented insight into the expedition. We learn the voyagers' personal stories, and how, for all the scientific progress that was made, just as much intense personal drama unfolded on the trip. This book shares a watershed moment in scientific history, crossed with a maritime adventure. There are four tangential suicides and controversies over credit and fame. Collecting Evolution also explores the personal lives and scientific context that preceded this voyage, including what brought Darwin to the Galapagos on the Beagle voyage seventy years earlier. James discusses how these men thought of themselves as "collectors" before they thought of themselves as scientists, and the implications this had on their approach and their results.
In the end, the voyage of the Academy proved to be crucial in the development of evolutionary science as we know it. It is the longest expedition in Galapagos history, and played a critical role in cementing Darwin's legacy. Collecting Evolution brings this extraordinary story of eight scientists and their journey to life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
James, chair of the geology department at Sonoma State University, convincingly shows that though Darwin's 1835 Galapagos visit remains a historical milestone, the specimens he collected were scattershot and poorly labeled, and that later research voyages produced better evidence. The greatest of these, James argues, was the 1905 1906 expedition sponsored by the museum of the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Darwin visited four islands over the course of five weeks; in 1906 eight young scientists and three crewmen stayed for over a year, visited 13 islands, and collected 78,000 specimens (including 266 giant tortoises). Readers will blanch at this mass slaughter, which included creatures near to extinction, but James emphasizes repeatedly that they operated in a "pre-conservation world." Naturalists in 1905 believed that if they didn't bring back a rare creature, it would be "lost to science forever." The immense collection revived the museum, which had been destroyed by the great 1906 earthquake, and provided material that corroborated Darwin's work. This dense, scholarly work offers a nearly day-by-day account of a few months of collecting, so many readers may want to skip to the final chapters. Still, James writes well and delivers a stimulating account of evolutionary thought through the years.
