One for the Ages!

 

 

A scientist sailor and a naturalist embark  on a voyage of their lifetime. Only, they both had no clue how their journey would shape the history of our Modern World!

The scientist sailor with a theological bent of mind, a renowned English man of aristocratic lineage, opts for a male companion to travel with him in his ship on a voyage that would go on for about FIVE long years.

He knows the thrills as well as the perils of such a long journey with only water and more water everywhere. More than the thrill, a couple of suicides (in his circle of relatives) by Captains like him either during such a journey or post landing on shores, makes him push for a travelling companion with clearly defined rules of company: “such a companion should share his scientific tastes, make good use of the expedition's opportunities for researching natural history, dine with him as an equal, and provide a semblance of normal human friendship”.

Any seafarer worth his salt would tell us that these were absolute luxuries during voyages in the 17^th Century.

This scientist sailor is a damn good fella in studying geological patterns as well as predicting weather.

The travelling companion he chose, after a round of rejections of some eminent persons, is a geologist, naturalist and biologist.

Five long years of journey in the oceans between England and the New World (mainly the Southern Hemisphere) and many observations, friendly banters and confrontations later, they both alight on the English shores on 2^nd October 1836.

The Sailor scientist goes on to establish the first Meteorological department of the world, popularly known as Met these days allover the world, to accurately measure weather and predict weather using specially designed instruments distributed on loan to ships and fishing folks without much discrimination. He knew the power of data and had the ability to harness it to meaningful productive use. He also gave us the term that is dear to us in our daily lives in multiple levels, The FORECAST, weather forecast!

For fishing folks of English oceans he became a saviour because of his timely and accurate weather forecasts. The first ever ‘Gale warning Cones’ designed by him went up in English coastal lines to indicate the severity of winds expected into the sea. It saved lives of many fishermen but it also met staunch opposition from fleet operators and business owners who could not take ‘refusal’ of their own employees to venture into sea just because somebody put up some cone somewhere in their coasts! They successfully got it dismantled but only for a brief time as science stood the test of time and their prejudices! There was a recorded incident that Queen Victoria once sent messengers to his office to get to know whether she could do a sea crossing she had planned, without weather issues!

His legacy lives on and some of the barometers that he designed are still in use in England as of today!

And his travelling companion, naturalist biologist, goes on to publish his observations in a seminal book in the year 1859, met with staunch criticism by none other than his sailor scientist friend who by then became a total believer in scriptures and began his criticism by pledging on The Holy Bible and implored the audience to believe in God rather than Man!

The sailor scientist had his reasons to believe the scriptures as he saw some convergence about his geological observations of rock formation (sea shells in Mountaintops) and critical reading of The Holy Bible (the loooooong floods that engulfed the world then, making the appearance of shells in those mountaintops possible).

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to the world famous Meteorologist and Weather Forecaster Robert FitzRoy

and his travelling companion, the author of ‘Origin of Species’, Charles Darwin!

The beauty of their story was, these two gentlemen had no clue about their future selves while embarking on that long tedious treacherous high risk voyage on HMS Beagle in June 1831!

Such is the joy of travelling (through history) ha!

P.S: If you keep wondering Robert Who???, he is the Hero and guiding light of Tommy Abilash, the decorated Indian Navy Sailor who almost lost his life in a storm while on a competitive solo circumnavigation trip somewhere in the middle of nowhere couple of years ago!