Yet the concept of species adaptation was not so radical at the time. The book was an immediate bestseller and quickly set off a firestorm of controversy.ĭarwin had expected no less – fear of a backlash from Britain’s religious and even scientific establishment had been the primary reason he had delayed publicizing his ideas. The following year, Darwin published On the Origin of Species, a lengthy, fleshed-out treatment of his ideas on evolutionary theory. Their work – comprising a collection of Darwin’s earlier notes and an essay by Wallace – was read to the Linnean Society, an association of naturalists, in London on July 1, 1858. This being the age of Victorian gentlemen, it was agreed that the two scientists would jointly publish their writings on the subject. Wallace’s announcement prompted Darwin to publicly reveal that his own research had led him to the same conclusion decades earlier. On the Origin of Species may never have been written, let alone published, if it had not been for Alfred Russel Wallace, another British naturalist who independently proposed a strikingly similar theory in 1858. Indeed, he did not publish his now-famous volume, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, until 1859, more than 20 years after he had first formulated his theory. But beyond sharing his ideas with a close circle of scientist friends, Darwin told no one of his views on the origin and development of life. In the course of nearly five years at sea – during which time the Beagle surveyed the coast of South America and stopped in such places as Australia and, most famously, the Galapagos Islands – Darwin took advantage of countless opportunities to observe plant and animal life and to collect both living and fossilized specimens for later study.Īfter the Beagle returned to England in October 1836, Darwin began reflecting on his observations and experiences, and over the next two years developed the basic outline of his groundbreaking theory of evolution through natural selection. Later, while studying botany at Cambridge University, he was offered a chance to work as an unpaid naturalist on the HMS Beagle, a naval vessel embarking on an exploratory voyage around the world. But even as a child, Darwin expressed an interest in nature. Growing up a shy and unassuming member of a wealthy British family, he appeared, at least to his father, to be idle and directionless. At first glance, Charles Darwin seems an unlikely revolutionary.