CHAPTER ONE ISLANDS OF EVIDENCE When the crew of the HMS Beagle spotted land on September 15 1835 they had already seen amazing wonders After departing from England in 1831 they had sailed around all of South America Now with the Galapagos Islands in view there were even greater discoveries to come There was history to be made Exciting scientific discoveries lay ahead as the Beagle approached the Galapagos Islands 5
Darwin studied a wide variety of plants and animals in the Galapagos Islands The ship’s scientist Charles Darwin had made thousands of observations He had gathered many samples He had studied plants and animals throughout the journey But it was his work in the Galapagos Islands that would make him famous Darwin collected several kinds of finches in the Galapagos Islands These birds had beaks of different shapes and sizes He did not attach any meaning to 6
this He did not even take the time to label which island each bird came from He knew wildlife varied from island to island even though they were all close together But he did not yet consider it significant Darwin’s Finches Darwin returned home from his voyage on October 2 1836 He spent a few months organizing his collection and writing In early 1837 he brought the finches to the Zoological Society in London England They would be in good hands PERSPECTIVES Sir Charles Lyell Charles Lyell was a highly regarded geologist in the 1800s He was one of the world’s most prominent naturalists at the time of Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle Lyell’s Principles of Geology Vol 1 was a great influence on Darwin He used it as a guide in collecting samples and making observations Darwin met Lyell shortly after his return to England The two became friends Lyell did not accept evolution until the 1860s Still Lyell encouraged Darwin to publish his work on the subject Darwin later published his own books about geology He felt he owed so much to Lyell that his knowledge of geology came half out of Lyell’s brain 7
