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William Paley published Natural Theology
Paley claimed that even the most humble and insignificant organisms must have been carefully and perfectly designed, this was called his "watchmaker" analogy and would influence Darwin. -
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck published the first theory of biological evolution.
Remarking on multiple lines of apparent descent in fossil forms, Lamarck claims in this theory that more recent fossils more closely resemble extant species. The major concept behind this theory was focused on the idea that use/disuse of physical traits in organisms lead to adaptations in traits that would be passed on to offspring. -
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Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology popularized uniformitarianism
Lyell's published ideas leaned against Lamarckism and evolution, instead believing in centers of creation and claiming that the Earth had existed far long enough to have seen few, slow evolutionary processes. This would influence Darwin's beliefs and ideas. -
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Darwin voyaged the world for hydrographic surveying, giving him access to new and isolated locations.
Darwin took the opportunity to make many notes and observations from loads of untouched data all around him, quickly realizing species were not immutable and that his initial beliefs in the theory of independent creation were not as supported as some other competing ideas and explanations. Link text -
Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation was published.
Anonymous author (now known to be Robert Chambers) attempted to explain the origin of life, geological processes, the development of life, though provided no mechanism for biological change. -
Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species
Charles Darwin finally publishes his findings in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. Though this work introduced his idea of natural selection, the well known "survival of the fittest" concept is not mentioned for the first four editions. Link text -
Gregor Mendel publishes work on genes in an obscure journal
After seven years of carefully detailed pea plant experiments, Mendel publishes his work on genes, though many only see it as a confirmation of the 3:1 ratio of offspring resulting from hybrid cross.