Darwin Slept Here: Discovery, Adventure, and Swimming Iguanas in Charles Darwin's South America

By Eric Simons

One snowy day in Ushuaia, Argentina, the self-proclaimed "southernmost city in the world," writer Eric Simons picked up a copy of Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle. He had just hiked the mountains overlooking Beagle Channel, and found himself engrossed in Darwin's account.

Like Simons, Darwin was in his mid-twenties when he traveled to South America. Simons followed Darwin further into the continent-to stand where Darwin had, and to explore the histories, legends and people that had fascinated the great scientist two centuries before. He trekked to as many of the locations Darwin wrote about as he could find, to see if he could view these places through Darwin's eyes, and to learn what South Americans know about Darwin.

Innovative and amusing, Darwin Slept Here offers a new look at a familiar subject, by a fresh, compelling writer to watch.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Jun 29, 2010
• ISBN: 9781590205426

Reviews for Darwin Slept Here

[jjmcgaffey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was a very interesting book. The way it was organized - somewhat related in time to Darwin's travels, but not on Simons' timeline (that is, Simons explored the west coast of South America first, but told about it second because Darwin went down the east coast first) - was a little confusing. Also, the parts told out of sequence had all kinds of Darwin-related thoughts mentioned - it makes me wonder if he actually thought them at the time or merely came up with them to tie the older stories in with his Darwin trip. There was also a tendency to accept the myths about Darwin's trip - for instance, that he'd traveled as ship's naturalist (rather than captain's companion and amateur naturalist). I would have been interested to see what the real naturalist thought in some of those odd places. Nonetheless, there were both good stories of Simons' travel and interesting sidelights on and new (to me) knowledge about Darwin's explorations.One other point - I know it's an ARC, and they clearly know it's not finished (there are several bits of art and quotes missing, with notes 'to be inserted later'). Still, there were a lot of typos and slightly scrambled sentences. I hope they have at least a couple more copyediting and proofreading cycles before the book is released in final form.

[zwelbast_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A travel book , biography and science work combined in a very enjoyable read. Did not know much about Darwin and this book helped me understand a little of Darwin and his theory in and 'easy' way. South America is descriped how i got to know it. (travelled there a few years ago) Wonderful continent.Recommended!

[oldmanriver1951_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is something that one at first thinks of as an academic read, then laughingly discovers that this is not your father's darwin!. Eric Simons retraces Darwins path of his famous voyage in 1831, attempting to live the daily life that Darwin WOULD have led...except that we are given the nitty gritty of what was going on behind the scenes AFTER a day spent studying, sketching and classifying species...a real eye opener...an evolutionary page turner, if you don't mind a bit of literary liscense....

[bragan_8 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Eric Simons -- apparently for no other reason that than he was young and bored and thought Charles Darwin was interesting -- set out to travel through the various parts of South America that Darwin visited during his journey on the Beagle.The resulting travelogue is... okay. Simons' adventures aren't really all that adventurous, and while he writes with real enthusiasm about Darwin's scientific curiosity and his appreciation for the places he passed through, he doesn't exactly manage to bring Darwin's adventures vividly and compellingly to life. I did learn a few interesting tidbits about Darwin, and about South America, but none of it felt particularly deep. Maybe that's enough for a fairly short, quick-reading book like this one, but I think I was hoping for something just a little bit more.

[jfballenger · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is an account of the author's adventures retracing Charles Darwin's momentous expedition on the HMS Beagle, and a biographical essay on a scientific figure whose humanity, the author believes, has been obscured by the significance and controversy of his theory of evolution. Each chapter focuses on an important stop on Darwin's journey, comparing the author's experience today with Darwin's account of his voyage in the 1830s. Ultimately the book is refection on the lively sense of adventure that the author believes animates both travel and the exploration of the natural world. Simons account of hist travels are fun, and the glimpses he gives us of Darwin are interesting but shallow. His main point seems to be that Darwin wasn't the stuffed shirt history has made of him, but a fun dude that we'd have a blast with if we could travel with him today. Well, maybe. But Darwin's journey and the ides he forged from it were part of a much larger history. Looking back on Darwin's journey through the experience of a journey through contemporary South American would have been a golden opportunity to examine the complex social and cultural history of scientific knowledge in the European exploration and colonization of the New World. It's as though the author unearthed a great treasure but took only the few coins needed to have a good time.

[bluehwys · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book! I'm not too much of a non-fiction reader, but this book sounded interesting so I requested it. I'm happy to report that it was very entertaining! It was fun and funny, as well as being informative. I think this book would be a good jumping-off point to get people interested in Darwin and his works, and to encourage them to seek more information on the subject and to dig deeper. It's also a good, fun and entertaining read even if you don't decide to dig deeper into Darwin.

[miamismartgirl09 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As a zoology student, I found Darwin Slept Here to be very interesting. I thought it had both a good balance of science writings, writing about Darwin and his journey and the journey that the author took, following Darwin's journey.Eric Simons took Darwin and made him into something everyone could understand. He made Dawrin loveable. A pleasant read, especially with Darwin's birthday is right around the corner (Darwin was born on 2-19-1809).

[kittybee_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Darwin Slept Here was an early reviewer book. I misplaced it, so I am a few months late in reading it, but I have finished it and enjoyed it very much. The book follows the author, Eric Simmons, as he flees a boring post graduation existence and travels to South America to travel in Darwin's footsteps and see the things Darwin saw. The light, humorous style of the book was very enjoyable to read and the descriptions of places visited made me want to set off on an adventure of my own.

[moncur_d_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

enjoyable, if slightly lightweight, travelogue. Simons enthusiasm shines through and adds to the fun of the book. could have done with a brieff bibliography tho'