Natural History research

[swan_tower]

So, I mentioned before that I have a new series.

It will surprise nobody who's been around for the Onyx Court books that I intend to do a bit of research. :-)

NOT AS MUCH AS BEFORE. (Thank god.) But there are some things I want to read about, to get some good material for compost into my head, so this is the first of a couple of posts asking for recommendations.

The first topic up is, of course, the discipline of natural history. Can anybody recommend a good biography of Darwin, something that focuses on the fieldwork end of things? His education, the voyage of the Beagle, that kind of thing; I'm less concerned with what happened after he published his theories. Or books on other natural historians, or the development of the field. I've got a few things to read already, but knowing the internets, it's entirely possible that somebody reading this post has a random love for the topic of nineteenth-century natural history, and knows exactly what I ought to be reading to understand it. If that's you -- or if it isn't, but you know a couple of things you'd recommend -- speak up in the comments.

If you're not familiar with this topic at all, stay tuned; there will be other requests to come.

Comments

[moonandserpent.livejournal.com]

I highly recommend Darwin's own account of the Voyage of the Beagle. Preferably a good annotated modern edition... IIRC, the one with Steve Jones is good.

I'll have more when I'm not on the clock.

[rosa-g.livejournal.com]

I second reading Voyage of the Beagle, it's quite an interesting read. The same can be said of On the origin of species which I've read both for fun and for school on multiple occasions.

Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist by Adrian Desmond and James Moore is also a really interesting read. This one goes into quite a bit of detail about the context behind Darwin's work and expeditions. It's a long book (700ish pages) but it's really worth it. Darwin's voyages on the Beagle are well described... so it might be worth checking out just for that.

[cepetit.myopenid.com (from livejournal.com)]

Although these are not directly on point for the specific question you asked, I can recommend a couple of blogs that frequently cover issues of this nature (including annual stuff around Darwin Day that might well be directly on point for this particular question) and -- perhaps more importantly -- the social context thereof:

Pharyngula (http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/)
The Panda's Thumb (http://pandasthumb.org/)

Warning for the unaware: These are both pro-atheist (or at least anti-church-entanglement) blogs. I can't imagine that a trained anthropologist would have a problem with that, but others lurking might...

[tchernabyelo.livejournal.com]

Gilbert White's "The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne" (1789) may be of interest, if you aren't already famliar with it.

Also I recently read Scott Wiedensaul's "Of a Feather", a history of American birding, and the insights into some of the early ornithological figures may be of interest.

[tltrent.livejournal.com]

Um...how much do you want? I went to research Darwin and his rival Richard Owen for my Darwin YA a couple years ago, so I have lots of stuff. Do you know of Mary Anning? She may be a fun model, if you've not already discovered her. (I suspect you have).

[kernezelda]

I read Irving Stone's biography of Darwin, Origin, years and years ago, and enjoyed it, although now I can't remember any details.

[elaine-thom.livejournal.com]

I used to have a copy of The Dragon Seekers by . um...(invokes Amazon)... McGgowan which is a popular history sort of book about the early fossil hunters and how they figured out the underpinnings of evolution. I remember it being an engaging read. If I could find my copy I'd be happy to pass in on to you. It could help give you an overview of what was going on in your period. Amazon also quotes a PW review which recommends Terrible Lizard by Cadbury.