Abstract
THIS volume is the first part of a French translation by Prof. Renard of the geological portion of the “Journal of a Naturalist,” which book, as he remarks in his preface, preceded the “Origin of Species” by fifteen years and shows how surely Darwin had laid in his own mind the foundations for the development of that classic work. We should, indeed, have said that the geological observations proved at what a cost to this science the new birth of biology was obtained did we not remember that the idea of evolution has not only reanimated palaeontology, but also has led to a new way of regarding even the inorganic world. Time has not deprived of their value those sections of “Geological Observations” which deal with St. Paul's Rocks, with the fluxional and spherulitic structures in the obsidians of Ascension Island, and with other volcanic islands and the order of eruptive rocks. They, indeed the whole work, can still teach geologists, and not only those who are beginners, the right methods in both observation in the field and the inductive treatment of facts; in a word, how to grapple with new problems. Prof. Renard's intimate knowledge, not only of geology, but also of the English language, so fits him for the work of translation that it is almost needless to say this has been admirably done, and he has added to the value of the volume by including in it the introductory essay which was contributed by Prof. Judd to the volume of the Minerva Library of Famous Books containing Darwin's geological works.
Observations Géologiques sur les Îles Voleaniques explorées par l'Expédition du “Beagle,” et Notes sur la Géologie de l'Australie et du Cap de Bonne Esperance.
Par Charles Darwin. Traduit de l'Anglais sur la Troisième Edition par A. F. Renard, Professor à l'Université de Gand. Pp. xxii + 218; 14 figures, one plate. (Paris: Schleicher Frères, 1902.)
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Observations Géologiques sur les Îles Voleaniques explorées par léExpédition du “Beagle,” et Notes sur la Géologie de l'Australie et du Cap de Bonne Esperance . Nature 67, 31 (1902). https://doi.org/10.1038/067031a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/067031a0