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Zoonomia
Not a lot of people know this, but the theory of evolution existed for over a century be for Charles arrived on the scene. While his father believed in evolution but kept it private; his grandfather, Erasmus Darwin was “England’s most famous evolutionist (or transmutationist, as it was called).” (Wicker, Charles Darwin: A Short Biography) Erasmus would write a book on his theories called “Zoonomia”. The book allowed for the idea of evolution to sprout in his mind. -
Exploratory Survey
Thanks to a John Henslow, a college from Cambridge, Charles would sail on the HMS Beagle alongside Captain Robert FitzRoy after graduation. “During the next five years, the Beagle toured the South American coasts, the Galapagos Islands, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa.” (CSHL) The investigations made during his voyage led to the concluded that evolutionary trends could be found through fossils, and that these changes occurred to “a process of natural selection.” -
Origin of Species
When he returned to England in 1836, Charles would marry and work to perfect his theory of evolution. His passion for his work was leading him to poor health and destruction of his career, but when a man by the name of Wallace notified him of his similar theory in 1857. This pushed him to finally “writing what he considered a mere synopsis, The Origin of Species” (Wicker, Charles Darwin: A Short Biography) in 1859 to the Linnean Society. -
The Descent of Man
Understanding the world he lived in, Charles relied on the help of other scholars like Wallace to help solidify his theory amongst the god-fearing people. This backed fire with his colleges stating that “natural selection alone was radically insufficient to account for man’s moral… Evolution needed God.” (Wicker, Charles Darwin: A Short Biography) This angered Charles to write The Decent of Man, writing that all things moral were connected to natural and sexual behaviors.
