That day marks a before and after in the history of biology. Portrait of Alfred Russel Wallace (around 1863). Wallace was still in Malaysia and Darwin was in mourning over the death only three days earlier of his infant son of 19 months. He and his circle of selected scientists organized a joint document to be read at the next meeting of the Linnean Society, although neither of the men could attend. A humble and almost naïve Wallace then wrote to Darwin to ask for his opinion and, if Darwin felt it appropriate, to send a summary of his ideas to the eminent geologist Charles Lyell.ĭarwin, thus far reluctant to publish his theory, decided then to do so. This young man, who was in the middle of a naturalist expedition in the Malay Archipelago, had independently arrived to the same conclusion: natural selection was the mechanism that determines the adaptation and speciation of living beings, regardless of divine influence. It took over 20 years until, in June 1858, an already mature Darwin received a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913). This fear was one of the keys that delayed the publication of the theory. By then his theory of evolution was already quite clear, and he knew that it would raise people’s hackles. But Victorian society rejected this and other revolutionary ideas that suggested non-theological explanations for the placement of the continents, the nature of human intellect or the origins of life itself.Īt the conclusion of his famous voyage on the Beagle, in October 1836, young Charles Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was welcomed by this Victorian scientific elite. Linnaeus, Lamarck, Erasmus Darwin (Charles’ grandfather) and other great scientists had theorized about what was then called the transmutation of species. The idea had spent almost a century floating about in the scientific ether. Credit: Maull and FoxĮvolution was not a brilliant and solitary brainstorm of Darwin. Modern biology and evolutionism were born on that day. The authors were Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, and they used this theory to explain the evolution of the species. On July 1, 1858, at the Linnean Society of London, a summary of a theory of natural selection was presented. However, this view of history leaves out an even more important date for understanding how the theory of evolution was conceived. The anniversary of the theory of evolution is usually celebrated on November 24, the day on which Darwin published his book “The Origin of the Species” (1859).
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