Perhaps the best time-machine journey would be to climb aboard Charles Darwin's Beagle for a naturalist's voyage around the world.
You can now do that virtually, thanks to a new website created by CNRS Sagascience.
Animation at the site takes you through the travels during which Darwin laid the groundwork for his theory of evolution through natural selection.
CNRS's Julien Guillaume briefly summarizes the story:
"In late December 1831, as the Beagle prepared for departure, Charles Darwin, a 22-year old British naturalist, had no idea that the voyage he was embarking on would last almost five years and circumnavigate the globe... He was also far from imagining that his botanical and zoological observations would lead to the publication, in 1859, a full twenty years later, of his major work on the theory of evolution. During the voyage, Darwin demonstrated his extraordinary talent for observation, and experienced first-hand the contradictions between scientific theories of the time and the realities of field observation. This unique expedition enabled him to collect precious data (fossils, samples, live organisms...) which shaped his thoughts on the evolution of species."
More than 300 photos, prints and illustrations help to bring the world-changing travels and discoveries to life.
So become an Internet traveler and virtually navigate from Brazil to Patagonia, Chile to the Galapagos, Tahiti to the Cocos islands, and from Australia to the Cape of Good Hope. Your timing will be right as this year marks the bicentennial of the birth of Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and the 150-year anniversary of the publication of his most famous book, "On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection."
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