Charles Darwin developed his early theories on board the Beagle
Posted on 07/19/2006 3:55:15 AM PDT by PatrickHenry
Plans are being drawn up to build a £3.3m working replica of the boat that took Charles Darwin around the world at Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire.
Fundraising for the project, which would mark the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth in 2009, is under way.
The aim is to built a seaworthy vessel identical to the HMS Beagle on the outside, but with a modern interior.
Darwin, who showed how natural selection could explain evolution, sailed on the Beagle between 1831-36.
Sitting opposite him on the expedition was mate and surveyor John Lort Stokes.
One of Stokes' descendents, Pembrokeshire farmer David Lort Philips, together with commercial yacht master Peter McGrath, have founded the Beagle Project Pembrokeshire.
Mr McGrath said the ship would look identical to the original Beagle on the outside but would have a 21st century interior with diesel auxiliary engines and generators.
He said he hoped the fished vessel would inspire the scientists of the future and be used by researchers and scientists from across the world.
"Externally it will be exactly the same but we want it to do some serious scientific work and you would not want the crew living like they did in the 18th Century," he said.
The pair have spent three years putting their plans together and aim to raise the money through private and institutional investors along with public subscription.
"With all the Darwin 200 celebrations there is not one big project to focus the attention on," added Mr McGrath.
"I know the effect a square rigger has on young people - it's a jaw dropping site.
"But we do not want this just to be a replica - we want it to have genuine scientific benefits.
"We have started the fundraising. Construction will take 14 months and it has to be finished by early 2009.
"She will be built in Milford Haven and it will be her home. But what we want to do when she is built is visit the significant sights in Darwin's and the Beagle's life."
Researchers believe the original remains of the 27m-long Navy brig, that was sold for scrap in 1870, are embedded in a marsh near Potton Island in Essex.
Darwin, who published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859, came fourth in a poll run by the BBC in 2002 to find the public's greatest Briton of all time.
His voyage on the Beagle allowed him to form the basis for much of his later work.
So what. What if they were vegetarians? Would that mean that vegetatianism is responsible for the atrocities committed at their hands?
Can you say "non sequitur?" I didn't think so.
Name one. I know of nobody that understands TToE that believes they are superior to God.
There may be some atheists (as well as Buddhists, Hindus, Zarostians, agnostics, etc.) but their religious philosophy is not founded in TToE.
On the contrary, they address the very same physical realities science is bound to examine. The boundary between the biblical texts and science is one you've erected for yourself, perhaps as a way to insulate yourself from the One to whom you are ultimately accountable.
Then Astronomy goes against God's Word. Why don't you attack that?
I'll pass the word along to billions of Hindus and Buddhists.
Now that would be a good idea. except the animal rights groups would protest the crowded, filthy conditions and the starvation induced deaths of animals on such a replica.
(hint: Naziism, Fascism, Communism are not based on TToE).
Sir Arthur Keith (Evolution and Ethics) noted:
The leader of Germany is an evolutionist not only in theory, but, as millions know to their cost, in the rigor of its practice. For him the national "front" of Europe is also the evolutionary "front"; he regards himself, and is regarded, as the incarnation of the will of Germany, the purpose of that will being to guide the evolutionary destiny of its people....
Keith was an evolutionist looking for some way to reconcile evolution and ethics and he never found it because it wqasn't there to BE found. Newt Gingrich basically laid it out in noting that the question of whether a man views his neighbor as a fellow child of God or as a meat byproduct of random processes HAS to effect human relationships. An evolutionist has no rational basis for morality.
You say you don't like hearing about naziism? What about cannibalism? This is what the famous evolutionist Jeffrey Dahmer had to say on the subject:
"If a person doesn't think that there is a God to be accountable to, then what's the point of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges? That's how I thought anyway. I always believed the theory of evolution as truth, that we all came from slime. When we died, you know , that was it, there is nothing..."
Hey Ted, don't you think your game is getting old?
ugly bags of mostly water placemarker
I think communism is capitalism where the number of entrepreneurs has been reduced to a handful by coercion and deceit and Freedom abolished for all, but that elite handful. There's a universal pattern here that fits those that badmouth Darwin as well, regardless of the quality and magnitude of the coericon and deceit. Ultimately the results are a supression of truth and loss of Freedom.
How disingenuous can you be? It is clear the meaning of "evolution" in this context is meant figuratively. Sheesh, you debate like a Creationist (i.e. all logical fallacies).
Your example is not fact-based, but rather an opinion about an opinion. It does nothing to buttress your argument.
This is what the famous evolutionist Jeffrey Dahmer had to say on the subject:
"Cannibalism?" Dahmer was not a "famous evolutionist." He was a famous whacko serial killer. The fact he trotted out a bizarre excuse that involves the word "evolution" is meaningless. He also said God made him that way. So I guess that believing in God makes one a cannibal? You are grasping at straws.
Guilt by association. The last refuge of someone who has been thoroughly trounced.
I mean, Dahmer? (LOL)
Wrong. The purpose of morality is to protect rights. Rights identify the those elements of the essence of man that are essential to his existence as an individual. It's that simple.
Also a Christian, The Creationists at Answers in Genesis are quite proud of that.
An excellent display of ignorance of evolution, capitalism, and socialism. Actually, the Creos approach most resembles socialism, which advocates an even distribution of credibility regardless of whether that credibility was earned.
Capitalism, on the other hand, is a system where the market selects the traits that enable a good business to thrive and a poor business to go extinct.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.