1805 Birth of the first “forecaster”
Schoolchildren are taught about the voyage of HMS Beagle and its five-year expedition that carried Charles Darwin around the world, providing him with the experiences that would lead to the publication of his theories of evolution. Less well-known is the ship’s captain, Robert Fitzroy (1805-65), who had brought Darwin on board as a gentleman companion. If his story is told at all, it is of a hide-bound traditionalist, at odds with Darwin on matters of religion. Fitzroy’s account is worth relating, both for its religious implications and because the man was, in his own way, a scientist.
Fitzroy was a young Royal Navy officer when he first assumed temporary command of Beagle in 1828, after the suicide of its captain. The ship had been doing survey work near the southern tip of South America when it took on board four natives of Tierra del Fuego who were taken to England to be civilized and Christianized — the hope was that they would return to their people as missionaries. In 1831 Fitzroy was reappointed to Beagle and given the task of a lengthy survey cruise; he was to chart distant waters and report on the hydrography of the areas he visited. As well as carrying back the Fuegians, Fitzroy sailed with young ne’er-do-well and amateur biologist Charles Darwin as someone with whom the captain, isolated socially from his crew, could relate on a personal level and, hopefully, share his scientific interests. It is important to note that Fitzroy on his previous voyages had observed geographical features that must have taken aeons to shape, an observation that challenged any literalist view of Creation and the Flood. As token of this, Fitzroy gave Darwin a copy of Charles Lyell’s Principles of Geography.
The voyage was eventful, of course, for Darwin’s work but also because of the often-stormy relationship between the moody and irascible Fitzroy and his guest. Though Fitzroy during the expedition had remained convinced of the immense age of the earth and a sceptic of the account of Noah, he seems to have undergone a religious conversion shortly after his return home, possibly influenced by his recent marriage. He began to doubt the findings of Lyell and Darwin and felt guilty about his part in enabling Darwin’s work. At the famous Oxford debate in 1860 which pitted Darwin’s supporters against his religious opponents, Fitzroy “lifting an immense Bible first with both and afterwards with one hand over his head, solemnly implored the audience to believe God rather than man”. The crowd shouted him down.
But there is more to Fitzroy’s life than this sad portrayal of a man who saw the eternal verities denied and his life’s work twisted, because Fitzroy served nobly as Governor of New Zealand, urging decent treatment of the native Maori and because he was an eminent scientist with his own claim to fame. He was elected to the Royal Society (with the approval of Darwin) and pioneered research in meteorology. He invented new types of barometers to predict changes in the weather. With great industry and intelligence he arranged for systems of weather reporting by land and sea; his office made weather “forecasts” (Fitzroy invented the term) which warned ships away from sailing on dangerous days, thus saving the lives of countless sailors, and laid the foundations for today’s weather science.
Unfortunately, his good nature, which caused him to spend his entire fortune on public works, and his depressive personality led him to commit suicide. Scientists, including Darwin, raised funds to support his family.