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The Voyage of the Beagle: December 27, 1831 - October 2, 1836
Charles Darwin, as the ship's naturalist, left on the HMS Beagle for it's second of three long range voyages out of England. While in the Galapagos, he observed populations of birds and tortoises from neighboring islands that seemed closely related but diversified in ways such as the birds beaks shown in the attached picture. Months after the Galapagos, Darwin recognized the peculiarity of what he had seen eventually leading to his theory of evolution by natural selection (Duncan, I. 2012). -
Charles Darwin "On the Origin of Species" publication
The publication of “On the Origin of Species” was a pivotal moment in Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. “Descent, with modification”, termed by Darwin, describes that as individuals with advantageous variations will have a better chance of survival and in turn procreation to pass on their favorable genes, however slight. Darwin’s theory came about after some earlier evolutionary theories that helped play a major role in his success (Schmitt, C. 2012). -
The Huxley-Wilberforce "Debate" on Evolution
The traditional accounts for this “debate” are widely regarded to be that of myth. Following John William Draper’s speech, Wilberforce argued against Darwin’s theory and used the opportunity to take a personal jibe towards Huxley referencing one of his grandparents being a monkey. Huxley turned the conversation around defending the evolutionary theory. Darwin believed that Huxley and Hooker’s willingness to argue for his theory ultimately led to the acceptance of it (Smith, J. 2013). -
Charles Darwin "The Descent of Man"
This publication describes the ideas of sexual selection, a variation in his original theory of natural selection. This theory of sexual selection is what Darwin utilizes to account for the diverse superfluous traits that have essentially not influenced the rate or direction of evolutionary change. This was important, coupled with the idea of natural selection, because it allows for variation explaining why animals may be drawn towards things that may not be utilitarian (Armstrong, N. 2013).
