Darwin without the Science - what can we learn?

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• Peter Mason, Freelance Journalist and author
• Friday 29 November 2024, 19:00-12:00
• Yusuf Hamied Seminar Room 2&3, Christ's College, Cambridge, CB2 3BU.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact ds2035.

Darwin without the science – what can we learn? Date: Fri 29/11, Time: 7:00pm, Location: Seminar Room 2&3, Christ’s College

tldr: Talk: Who was Darwin? No science knowledge required

“Those who look tenderly at the slave owner, and with a cold heart at the slave, never seem to put themselves into the position of the latter… It makes one’s blood boil, yet heart tremble, to think that we Englishmen and our American descendants, with their boastful cry of liberty, have been and are so guilty…” - Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle

Darwin without the science – what can we learn?

Starting in 1831, travelling with only rudimentary support and often in great peril, Darwin roamed freely across unchartered territories as he encountered an unfamiliar world that was soon to disappear. This makes Darwin’s Voyage of the Beagle, all the more important as a historical text.

Along the way he saw things – from the horrors of slavery and the extermination of indigenous peoples, to the strange environment of the Galapagos Islands – that informed his outlook and, ultimately, led to his radical ideas on evolution of the species.

With the science being so influential, it is a shame that his life experience sometimes goes unnoticed. That’s where Darwin Society’s next speaker comes in.

Author and journalist Peter Mason has created a new, more accessible version of Darwin’s Voyage of the Beagle that controversially removes the scientific bits to reveal an exciting travel book.

Come to our Q&A session with Peter to discover how and why he did it – and what this new-look book might tell us about Darwin the man, as opposed to Darwin the scientist. Hear about Darwin’s views on slavery, colonialism and the nature of civilisation, as well as thoughts on his writing style, his overlooked bravery and his reverence for the mystical powers of mother nature.

About the Speaker: Peter Mason is a writer for The Guardian and Morning Star newspapers, and the author of a number of books on various topics, including The Brown Dog Affair, about the brown dog riots of 1907, and Bacchanal, a study of Trinidad carnival.

This talk is part of the Darwin Society series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Darwin Society
• Yusuf Hamied Seminar Room 2&3, Christ's College, Cambridge, CB2 3BU

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