Charles Darwin, the second son of a prominent physician, sailed away from England on the famous HMS Beagle in 1831. The young man, serving as the ship’s naturalist, spent just 18 months of his five-year journey aboard as he was free to mostly do as he wished during the voyage. He spent much of his time analyzing plant and animal specimens that he found in various locations. Some of the most famous of these locations were the Galapagos Islands. There he is believed by many to have noticed that finch specimens from both the islands and the mainland were similar except for some differences that made food collection easier in their particular environments. However, this story is likely false. At the time, Darwin focused more so on the differences between mockingbirds on the various islands. It was not until after his journey that Darwin began thoroughly analyzing finch specimens.
After the Beagle
After the completion of his time on the HMS Beagle, it took Darwin many years to completely develop and publish a theory that would explain how the differences between animals came to be. It was in 1837 that he examined a particular collection of specimens. Using this collection, he realized that each island of the Galapagos had its own species of finch. This left him to further question why and how species differentiated from one another. He eventually arrived at the theory of transmutation (evolution), a theory that had already been proposed by earlier generations, to partially explain the phenomena. He later developed the theory of natural selection in 1844 to explain how organisms underwent transmutation or evolution.
It was not until 1858 that Darwin, terrified of potential backlash, gave a joint lecture on evolution with fellow naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace. He then published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859. The book proposed that all species, having originated from a common ancestor, were the result of changes in populations due to the favoring of individuals with more advantageous traits.
The Backlash
While the book quickly sold out and was accepted by many scientists, orthodox Christians deemed it heresy. As the reactions of the scientific and religious communities were so vastly different, On the Origin of Species sparked a debate between scientists and theologians. The publishing of the book marked a time period in which religion and science were more frequently overlapping. However, individuals made an effort to completely ignore the implications of Darwin’s findings. They saw the work as simply a scientific matter and refrained from allowing it to inform their religious beliefs as well.
