When Charles Darwin set out on HMS Beagle on a voyage that would change science forever and our understanding of the natural world, at his side was the Royal Naval surgeon Benjamin Bynoe. This episode tells the story of Bynoe's fascinating life.
A skilled surgeon, collector, explorer and naturalist, Bynoe treated the sick, gathered scientific specimens from across South America, the Galápagos and Australia, and quietly helped lay the foundations of Darwin's revolutionary ideas. Yet history has largely overlooked his remarkable contribution.
In this episode, Dr Sam Willis is joined by Liz Laidler, Bynoe's descendant and author of Darwin's Invisible Friend from Barbados, to uncover the life of a man born in colonial Barbados who went on to become one of the Royal Navy's great scientific explorers. Together they explore life aboard HMS Beagle, the realities of naval medicine, collecting specimens in some of the world's most challenging environments, and the collaborative nature of scientific discovery. It's a conversation about exploration, empire, medicine, natural history and the forgotten people whose work helped change the world.
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