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Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin was Charles Darwin's grandfather he proposed the laws of organic life. This encompassed hints relating to evolution. However, was mainly geared towards animals and their diseases and there treatments. -
Edinburgh University
Darwin unlike many of his classmates could not stand learning in a class room; in his auto-biography he discusses how the classes were incredibly dull. This was the main reason he only attended Edinburgh university for two years in pursuit of being a physician. He decided this was not what he wanted to do, so his father suggested he be a clergyman. With what we know now this did not happen. Charles Darwin instead sought travel and adventure. -
Voyage of the HMS Beagle
The Beagle set for a course around the globe, and Charles Darwin saw an opportunity to truly learn about the world so he left. The Beagle had many stops at Atlantic Islands, the Cape of Africa, Australia, and most famously the Galapagos Islands. This trip is where Darwin formulated his theory of Evolution by Natural Selection. He was able to see differences in animals across the world, while also seeing similar families of a species. He observed that some had changed to their environment. -
On the Origin of the Species
After his voyage Darwin spent two years refining his findings and providing evidence for his theory. He then spent the better part of two decades writing a few books after his marriage. He had a number of them published leading up to "On the Origin of the Species" they were mainly geological books. In late 1854 he began compiling his notes from his trip then in 1859 he established in his book what would be taught for years to come Evolution.