Darwin's First Theory

by Rob Wesson

Overview

Everybody knows—or thinks they know—Charles Darwin, the father of evolution and the man who altered the way we view our place in the world. But what most people do not know is that Darwin was on board the HMS Beagle as a geologist—on a mission to examine the land, not flora and fauna.Tracing Darwin’s footsteps in South America and beyond, geologist Rob Wesson sets out on a trek across the Andes, repeating the nautical surveys made by the Beagle’s crew, hunting for fossils in Uruguay and Argentina, and explores traces of long vanished glaciers in Scotland and Wales. By following Darwin’s path literally and intellectually, Rob experiences the landscape that absorbed Darwin, followed his reasoning about what he saw, and immerses himself in the same questions about the earth. Upon Darwin’s return from the five-year journey, he conceived his theory of tectonics—his first theory. These concepts and attitudes—the vastness of time; the enormous cumulative impact of almost imperceptibly slow change; change as a constant feature of the environment—underlie his subsequent discoveries in evolution. And this peculiar way of thinking remains vitally important today as we enter the Anthropocene.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681773773
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	04/11/2017
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	102 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Rob Wesson received a BS in earth science from MIT, and an MS and PhD in geophysics from Stanford University. His career in earthquake research with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) spans four decades. He is currently a Scientist Emeritus at the USGS and his work has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation. When not traveling to South America or elsewhere, Rob divides his time between his home in Evergreen, Colorado, and the cabin he built near McCarthy, Alaska.

Table of Contents

A Note on Quotations, Spelling, and Names xi

Prologue: A Peculiar Obsession xiii

Part 1 Darwin in Tine Field 1

1 The Lieutenant and the Beetle Collector 3

2 Field Trip with a Master: The State of Geology 25

3 Setting Out: The Adventures Begin 43

4 The First Years of the Voyage 63

5 Patagonia: The Great Workshop of Nature 85

6 Maria Graham and the Debate on the Causes of Elevation 111

7 Darwin's Earthquake 129

8 The Andes Arising 147

9 Coral Reefs and the Sinking Bottom of the Sea 169

Part 2 Darwin Theorizing 187

10 Faith Comforts, Facts Persuade 189

11 The Theory Comes Together 209

12 Extending the Theory: The Parallel Roads of Glen Roy 227

Part 3 Back on Darwin's Trail 249

13 From Uplift to Evolution 251

14 From Natural Selection to Plate Tectonics 273

15 In the Beagle's Wake 297

16 The Chilean Earthquake of 2010 319

17 Now You See Them, Now You Don't 341

18 Reflections: What Does It All Mean? 361

Notes 385

Bibliography 419

Photo Insert Credits 441

Acknowledgments 445

Index 449

Editorial Reviews

…Rob Wesson's Darwin's First Theory dares, thank goodness, to work some of the rare Darwinian territory that is actually underexplored.

The New York Times Book Review - David Dobbs

★ 02/20/2017
Wesson, scientist emeritus at the U.S. Geological Survey, reexamines Darwin’s life and his Beagle voyage to illuminate the great scientist’s contributions to geology. Though known best for the theory of evolution, Darwin was initially given a berth on the Beagle as a geologist. In South America, Darwin’s observations led him to the belief that a gradual process of uplift was the primary factor in the changes in the Earth. He also discovered examples of fossilized megafauna and, later in the voyage, developed a theory of the formation of coral atolls. Wesson journeys to some of Darwin’s destinations, both to examine the theories in context and to evaluate the effects of recent earthquakes. He quotes Darwin often; giving readers a sense of Darwin’s thought processes and occasionally beautiful writing. Darwin’s theory of uplift was superseded by plate tectonics in the mid-20th century, but Wesson reminds readers that Darwin “simply did not have enough of the pieces to solve the puzzle.” Later chapters address the development of the concept of plate tectonics as a logical follow-up to Darwin’s work as well as current theories on megafauna extinction. Readers interested in Darwin, the earth sciences, and field-based research will find this well worth their time. Agent: Jane von Mehren, Zachary Shuster Harmsworth. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

An absorbing read about the man who might have been remembered as the father of geophysics if he hadn’t come up with an even more spectacular idea. Darwin wasn’t always right,
but by discussing his errors as well as his triumphs, this warts-and-all account highlights the way real science works, with lessons as relevant today as they were two hundred years ago.

John Gribbin

An exciting scientific travelogue. Indispensable reading for rock hounds and fans of natural history.

Shelf Awareness

Rob Wesson’s Darwin’s First Theory dares, thank goodness, to work some of the rare Darwinian territory that is actually unexplored.

The New York Times Book Review

A lively, readable account of field experiences while chasing the records in southern Chile of several of Earth's most severe earthquakes.  A very welcome addition to the history of the geosciences.

Robert H. Dott

In witty prose, Rob Wesson has captured a side of Darwin that is o en omitted in popular writings—that of a geologist. Appropriate quotes from Darwin and Robert Fitzroy, a polymath himself, enhance the eloquence of all three authors. Darwin’s First Theory reveals the power and the glory of curiosity. 

Peter Molnar

Rob Wesson has done a magnificent job of blending current science, a thorough historical understanding, and his own geological experience into a captivating account of Charles
Darwin's first theory: the one about how the Earth evolved. Wesson has retraced Darwin's footsteps to better understand the giant earthquakes which then, as now, can massively devastate the places they occur. I'd certainly encourage anyone interested in the Earth to join Wesson and Darwin on their travels.

Duncan Agnew

An impressive addition to the huge body of literature on Darwin and his work.  Wesson has a broad understanding and a deep familiarity with primary and secondary sources on Darwin and his contemporaries—and he has a master storyteller’s talent for engaging and illuminating narrative.

Natural History Magazine

Distinguished seismologist Rob Wesson left his desk and followed Darwin’s footsteps.
He traces Darwin’s pioneering development of geological theories of a dynamic earth and illuminates the growth in science leading to our modern understanding of plate tectonics.

George Thompson

A wonderful evocation of Darwin's great theory of subsidence and uplift, the substrate of his later, explosive discovery of evolution.

Nature

An illuminating retelling of a neglected episode in epoch-making science.

Booklist

A lively, readable account of Darwin’s geological career. The author’s study of primary sources enables the narrative of Darwin’s voyages to shine.

The Quarterly Review of Biology

An illuminating retelling of a neglected episode in epoch-making science.

Booklist

2017-01-24
A geologist dives headfirst into an exploration of Charles Darwin and his work, demonstrating how he shares Darwin's "passion for understanding the earth and Homo Sapiens' place upon it."Everyone knows that Darwin's observations during the voyage of the Beagle revolutionized our view of nature, but few know that the study of geology occupied much of those years. In this eye-opening account of a less well-known side of Darwin, Wesson, who worked at the U.S. Geological Survey for four decades and is now the scientist emeritus there, follows the oddball tradition that biographers retrace the footsteps of their subjects, no matter how tedious. The author chronicles his slogs through Brazilian forests, Argentine pampas, and Chilean and Scottish mountains, travels that, if nothing else, reveal the young Darwin's inexhaustible energy. "Whatever rock, fossil, landscape, rodent, bird, or beetle that he found, he wanted to tell its story," writes Wesson. Marine fossils had been turning up on mountaintops for a century. This didn't bother traditional geologists, but younger scientists, led by Charles Lyell (1797-1875), claimed that gradual, observable processes could explain these phenomena. Early in the voyage, Darwin's keen eye detected beaches hundreds of feet above shorelines. Examining coral reefs and atolls, he concluded that they could only form with uplift and subsidence of the islands they surrounded. Most dramatically, earthquakes shaped the landscape. Following a catastrophic Chilean quake, he measured, documented, and gathered eyewitness testimony as evidence that the land had risen. After the Beagle docked, Darwin's lectures and publications thrilled advocates of this new view of geological processes. By 1840, when he turned his attention to natural history, he was a major British scientific figure. Wesson's travels are mildly interesting, but he hits the jackpot when he concentrates on his subject and reveals that 20 years before Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species, his genius was already in evidence. A welcome addition to Darwin studies.

Kirkus Reviews