Portal:History of science/Article/2006 archive

This is an archive of article summaries that have appeared in the Selected article section of Portal:History of science in 2006. For past archives, see the Portal:History of science/Article.

February 8 - February 17, 2006
The Voyage of the Beagle is a title commonly given to the book written by Charles Darwin published in 1839 as his Journal and Remarks, which brought him considerable fame and respect. The title refers to the second survey expedition of the ship  HMS Beagle which set out on 27 December 1831 under the command of captain Robert FitzRoy. While the expedition was originally planned to last two years, it lasted almost five&mdash;the Beagle did not return until 2 October 1836. Darwin spent most of this time exploring on land (three years and three months on land; 18 months at sea).

Darwin's account of the voyage is a vivid and exciting travel memoir as well as a detailed scientific field journal covering biology, geology and anthropology that demonstrates Darwin's keen powers of observation, written at a time when the West were still discovering and exploring much of the rest of the world. With hindsight, one can find hints of the ideas Darwin would later develop into the theory of evolution.

February 17 - March 3, 2006
The Great Chain of Being is a classical and western medieval conception of the order of the universe, whose chief characteristic is a strict hierarchal system.

It is a conception of the world's structure that was accepted, and unquestioned, by most educated men from the time of Lucretius until the Copernican revolution and the ultimate flowering of the Renaissance. The Chain of Being is composed of a great number of hierarchal links, from the most base and foundational elements up to the very highest perfection - in other words, God, or the Prime Mover.

Moving on up the chain, each succeeding link contains the positive attributes of the previous link, and adds (at least) one other. Rocks possess only existence; the next link up, plants, possess life and existence. Beasts add not only motion, but appetite as well. Man is a special instance in this conception. He is both mortal flesh, as those below him, and also spirit, like the angels and God above.

The Great Chain of Being was central to work in natural history before the time of Linnaeus and Buffon.


 * March 3 through Week 11: March 3-March 18


 * Weeks 12 & 13: March 19-April 1


 * Weeks 14 & 15: April 2-April 15


 * Weeks 16 & 17: April 16-April 29


 * Weeks 18 & 19: April 30-May 13


 * Weeks 20 & 21: May 14-May 27


 * Weeks 22 & 23: May 28-June 10


 * Weeks 24 & 25: June 11-June 24


 * Weeks 26 & 27: June 25-July 8


 * Weeks 28 & 29: July 9-July 22


 * Weeks 30 & 31: July 23-August 5


 * Weeks 32 & 33: August 6-August 19


 * Weeks 34 & 35: August 20-September 2


 * Weeks 36 & 37: September 3-September 16


 * Weeks 38 & 39: September 17-September 30


 * Weeks 40 & 41: October 1-October 14


 * Weeks 42 & 43: October 15-October 28


 * Weeks 44 & 45: October 29-November 11


 * Weeks 46 & 47: November 12-November 25


 * Weeks 48 & 49: November 26-December 9


 * Weeks 50 & 51: December 10-December 23


 * Weeks 52 & 53: December 24-January 6, 2007