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The Voyage on the HMS Beagle
Beginning Circa 1831, Charles Darwin took his place on a voyage aboard the HMS Beagle; which was to set out on a mission to chart the coast of south america. On this voyage, Darwin began a series of journals that documented his findings in geology as well as nature and the study of species. It was here that Darwin began to form his initial theories of evolution through extinction as well as the evolution of the earth, as he discovered fossils and sea shells high in the Andes. -
Darwin's first paper
Upon returning from his journey aboard the HMS Beagle, Darwin met, for the first time, with Charles Lyell; a uniformitarian writer and inspiration to Darwin. Lyell introduced Darwin to Richard Owen, who was studying Darwin's fossil findings. Owen had concluded the existence of several extinct species similar to those thriving in South America. Soon after, Darwin wrote is first paper on his geological findings on South American land mass rising and read it to the Geological Society of London. -
The Origin of Species
In 1859, for the first time Darwin's theories on natural selection were published, and received an unexpected level of popularity. He included his explanations of sexual selection, as a method of explaining the differences between the human races. With his publication he toe'd the line on the origin of man, but expressly avoided the topic for its many prejudices. Darwin later re-coined the meaning of the word 'evolution' - adding it to the sixth release of The origin of species. -
Evolution in Species
Despite suffering from chronic illness, Darwin continued his work on evolution and natural selection in many ways, to include the observation and speculation of pollination patterns, and the adaptive qualities of plants to attract specific insects. Furthering his hypothesis that as generations come and go, attributes are either kept or weeded out, based off of which prevail. The stronger set of attributes hold out, while the weaker die off.
