A fork in the road
“Darwin ‘basically spent his years at Cambridge gambling with his wealthy friends. His father was so annoyed at one point he said he would only be good at hunting and rat-catching and he would disgrace his family’. Darwin himself would not have quarrelled with that judgement. He abandoned plans made for him first to become a doctor like his father, then to be a clergyman. Perhaps he would have continued in this rather aimless way were it not for the opportunity, which he seized aged twenty-two, to travel around the world on board the Beagle. It is significant, though, that the seemingly aimless young Darwin suddenly saw an opportunity he wanted quiet violently. Yet his famous voyage almost failed to happen – what a world might have changed there. Captain Robert FitzRoy, who was looking for a naturalist to join him on his nautical survey expedition, was not keen on the young man who presented himself. FitzRoy was a great believer in physiognomy and he thought the shape of Darwin’s nose made him a rather disreputable character. Darwin persuaded him otherwise.”
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On giants’ shoulders by Melvyn Bragg
Shelved in the Main Shelves on level 2: 509.22 BRA
“Darwin ‘basically spent his years at Cambridge gambling with his wealthy friends. His father was so annoyed at one point he said he would only be good at hunting and rat-catching and he would disgrace his family’. Darwin himself would not have quarrelled with that judgement. He abandoned plans made for him first to become a doctor like his father, then to be a clergyman. Perhaps he would have continued in this rather aimless way were it not for the opportunity, which he seized aged twenty-two, to travel around the world on board the Beagle. It is significant, though, that the seemingly aimless young Darwin suddenly saw an opportunity he wanted quiet violently. Yet his famous voyage almost failed to happen – what a world might have changed there. Captain Robert FitzRoy, who was looking for a naturalist to join him on his nautical survey expedition, was not keen on the young man who presented himself. FitzRoy was a great believer in physiognomy and he thought the shape of Darwin’s nose made him a rather disreputable character. Darwin persuaded him otherwise.”
Read more at:
On giants’ shoulders by Melvyn Bragg
Shelved in the Main Shelves on level 2: 509.22 BRA
The death of distance
The next quarter century will see the fastest technological change the world has ever known. How will that affect our lives? In general, as Arthur C. Clarke once pointed out, people exaggerate the short-run impacts of technological change and underestimate the long-term impacts. Really big technological changes permeate our homes, our personal relations, our daily habits, the way we think and speak. Consider the links between the automobile and crime, or between electricity and the skyscraper, or between television and social life. Each of these technological advances had consequences that nobody could have foreseen when they were new. The revolution in communications will have consequences that are just as pervasive, intimate and surprising.
Read more at:
The next quarter century will see the fastest technological change the world has ever known. How will that affect our lives? In general, as Arthur C. Clarke once pointed out, people exaggerate the short-run impacts of technological change and underestimate the long-term impacts. Really big technological changes permeate our homes, our personal relations, our daily habits, the way we think and speak. Consider the links between the automobile and crime, or between electricity and the skyscraper, or between television and social life. Each of these technological advances had consequences that nobody could have foreseen when they were new. The revolution in communications will have consequences that are just as pervasive, intimate and surprising.
Read more at:
The death of distance: how the communications revolution will change our lives by Frances Cairncross
Shelved in the Main Shelves on level 2: 303.4833 CAI
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