The Voyage of the Beagle is Charles Darwin's account of the momentous voyage which set in motion the current of intellectual events leading to The Origin of Species. It covers Darwin's part in the second survey expedition of the ship HMS Beagle. The book is a vivid and exciting travel memoir as well as a detailed scientific field journal covering biology, geology, and anthropology. It was written at a time when Western Europeans were exploring and charting the whole world, and it demonstrates Darwin's keen powers of observation.