University of New Mexico Press

Charles Darwin battles a bout of seasickness in George Lawrence's illustration for Anne Weaver's book, "The Voyage of the Beetle." The book, written for children 9 and older, is an introduction to pioneering naturalist Darwin and his ideas about evolution.

University of New Mexico Press

Illustrator George Lawrence captures Charles Darwin spitting out a beetle he had rashly deposited in his mouth for safekeeping. By recounting true incidents such as this, author Anne Weaver attempted to reveal the human side of the famous scientist.

University of New Mexico Press

To make Darwin's story more fun for kids, Weaver dreamed up Rosie, an articulate beetle, who travels with Darwin and helps him find the clues to the mystery of life on Earth.

University of New Mexico Press

Santa Fe author Anne Weaver hopes her book about Darwin gets kids stoked about science.

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She was only 7 or 8 at the time, but Anne Weaver remembers precisely the key that opened her perpetual fascination with the puzzle of life on Earth.

It was a tooth from a prehistoric horse.

"My grandfather, who was a geologist, called me into his workroom in Denver and showed me this fossil horse tooth," Weaver said during a phone interview from her Santa Fe home. "Paleontology has been on my radar since then.

"The idea that all life on Earth is continuous and is of one piece, the idea of the changing dance of life, is really compelling, I think."

Weaver, 60, is the author of "The Voyage of the Beetle," a book written for children 9 and older about pioneering naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and his theory of natural selection.

She and the book's illustrator, George Lawrence, will read from "Voyage" at 2 p.m. Saturday during Darwin Day activities, a family program at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History.

The book tells how information Darwin gathered during his voyage around the world on H.M.S Beagle from 1831 to 1835 led to his theory that species evolve to fit into and survive in particular environments.

Weaver's book is based on extensive research she did into Darwin's writings — especially his books "The Voyage of the Beagle" and "The Origin of Species" — but she has added an element to make her story more fun for kids.

In her book, Darwin is accompanied on his travels by Rosie, a beetle who can communicate with Darwin and who helps him assemble the clues that lead to his revolutionary theory. Thus the title of Weaver's book — "The Voyage of the Beetle," instead of the Beagle.

Weaver's hope is that the book will get young readers charged up about science the same way the prehistoric horse tooth got her pumped about paleontology.

She was so young then. And that tooth was so old.

"It was the idea of deep time, words geologist use to describe millions of years, that got me," Weaver said. "The vastness of it, the potential of it fires up your imagination. It's like astronomy. There's so much intellectual space. There is so much to explore."

During studies at Metropolitan State College in Denver, Weaver pursued other interests to a bachelor's degree in the arts with a minor in French. But she never escaped the pull of science.

She was in her early 40s and the mother of two young children when she enrolled in a master's program in anthropology at the University of New Mexico.

At UNM, she earned a master's in biological anthropology and a doctorate in anthropology. She taught evolutionary anthropology at Santa Fe Community College for 10 years before leaving to devote herself to writing full time.

Weaver loved the teaching experience, loved interacting with students. And she enjoyed organizing difficult information so it is accessible, a skill that stands her in good stead in her new life as the author of science books for children.

One thing she confronted head-on while teaching evolution is creationism, the belief by some that life, Earth and the universe were created by God in the forms in which they exist now. People who believe in creationism reject evolution, the idea that organisms are continually changing through the generations.

In fact, recent Gallup polls show that 43 percent of Americans do not buy into evolution.

"I would spend a lot of time in many classes introducing the idea that there are vocal opponents to evolution," Weaver said.

Although many churches respect science and accept evolution as part of God's plan, Weaver said she had some students who felt they were doing something they shouldn't by studying evolution.

"Part of my job was making people comfortable with the idea that it is OK to be studying this," she said. "My approach was if you look at the evidence, you can make your own decision."

That's the approach she takes in "The Voyage of the Beetle," as well.

Aided by Lawrence's sometimes amusing, always supportive illustrations, Weaver uses the astute observations of Rosie the beetle to outline eight clues leading to Darwin's ideas about organisms passing on traits that help their descendants survive.

Clue No. 4 gets to the meat of the matter.

"The individuals that are best able to compete in the struggle for life pass on their survival abilities to their offspring. Individuals that are less able to compete often die before they have offspring.

"Soon, the only individuals left are those that have inherited the ability to compete most effectively for food or space or safety."

That's what regular folks call survival of the fittest.

As "The Voyage of the Beetle" follows Darwin and Rosie from the Bay of Biscay to the rain forests of Brazil, from southern Argentina to the Strait of Magellan, from the Galapagos Islands to the Coco Islands, Weaver and Lawrence leaven the scientific theory with amusing incidents taken from Darwin's journals.

We find out what happens when Darwin impulsively pops a beetle into his mouth for safekeeping; witness his embarrassing efforts to master bolas, cordss attached to heavy balls used by Argentinians to capture cattle and game; and watch the boomerang-like antics of an iguana in the Galapagos.

The result is a book that introduces Darwin the human being, as well as Darwin the scientist.

"I wanted my readers to come as close at they could to Darwin," Weaver said.

During Saturday's program at the museum, Weaver will take the role of Rosie and Lawrence, 54, will assume the part of Darwin during readings from the book.

The program is one of hundreds of Darwin Day events taking place across the country in the days around Darwin's birthday, Feb. 12. The purpose is to promote the understanding of evolution and the scientific method.

That, of course, is also the purpose of Weaver's book.

"The evidence is laid out in 'Voyage of the Beetle,' " she said. "I make an effort not to step over that line.

"But I think if you look at the evidence, you will come down on the side of natural selection."