Transcript
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It's October 17, 1835, off the coast of the Galapagos Islands. Balancing in a tipping rowboat, 26 year old Charles Darwin grabs for a rope ladder hanging down the side of the HMS Beagle. He grips it tightly and starts climbing toward the deck. As he gets to the top, a hand reaches out to pull Darwin over the rail. It's Robert FitzRoy, the captain of the Beagle. He welcomes Darwin back on board as the crew begins unloading the rowboat. It's filled with specimens Darwin has gathered on the islands today. The bodies of rare birds as well as boxes of plants and rocks. Darwin can't wait to start analyzing them. But he winces as one of the crates lands heavily on the deck. He has no official role on the vessel and is known simply as the gentleman companion. But after four years on the Beagle, the ship's crew has grown to respect Darwin. They don't always understand why these birds, beetles and stones are so important to him. But the sailors still offer a quick apology and make sure they're more careful with the next box. In the four years that the Beagle has been at sea, Darwin has already stuffed the ship's hold with specimens and drafted entire volumes of records and notes of his discoveries. But the variety of species on the Galapagos has astonished him. Each island boasts unique breeds with the animals perfectly adapted to their environments. Darwin knows that his shipmates would say that this is just proof of God's hand in creation. But quietly though, Darwin wonders if some other force might be at work. He can't explain exactly what that might be yet, but he's determined to find out. You're listening. Ad free on Wondery.
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Sleepnumber.Com today it will be another year before Charles Darwin returns home to England. But the samples and notes he's collected on his epic voyage won't just change the course of his own life. What he saw on the Galapagos and elsewhere will be the foundation of a transformational idea about how life on Earth forms. But it will be a long time before Darwin feels that his work is ready for publication. Only after 20 years of collaboration with other scientists will Darwin unveil his radical theory of evolution to the world world when his book on the Origin of Species is Published on November 24, 1859 hey there American Historytellers listeners. If you've been enjoying these occasional appearances of History Daily in your feed, I want to make sure that you knew that I host a whole other podcast that posts these short, exciting this Day in History stories every weekday. Just search for History Daily in whatever podcast app you're using now. Then click Follow and over there on History Daily, you'll also get to hear updates on my live show. That's right, I'm hitting the road, bringing my Days that Made America tour to a stage near you. If you want to be the first to hear about tickets, dates, cities and more, head to historydailylive.com so there's two things you need to do. Go find and follow the podcast History Daily and Then head to historydailylive.com to get more information on my stage show. That's historydailylive.com from Noiser and Airship I'm Lindsey Graham and this is History Daily. History is made every day on this podcast. Every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is November 24, 1859 Darwin's Origin of Species it's late in the morning of November 24, 1859, in central London, England, more than two decades after Charles Darwin visited the Galapagos. In his office overlooking the street, John Murray tosses a few more lumps of coal onto the fire. Then he sits back in a deep cushioned chair to inspect the latest book published by his family firm. The cloth bound green cover has a short title embossed in gold text on the spine. On the Origin of Species. John smiles. That title was the source of some debate. The author, Charles Darwin, had favored a far longer, more academic name for the book, part of which can still be read on the inside page. So John turns to it on the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life? John shakes his head wryly. There wouldn't be room for all that on the spine. Thankfully, Darwin accepted his argument that a shorter title would help the book appeal to a mass market, and though it's still early days, John's instincts already seem correct. Sales of the book have been impressive so far. John flicks through the Freshly printed pages, keeping an eye out for any misprints. But he can't help admiring the prose and clarity of Darwin's arguments. John has known Darwin for nearly 15 years, ever since he published Darwin's account of his globe spanning voyage as a young man on board the Beagle. Back then, Darwin was little known, but that book helped make him famous. And when he came forward with a proposal for a new book, John was quick to offer his company services. There were conditions though. Darwin was so secretive about the content of his new work that John had to agree to publish it before he even read the manuscript. That was certainly a risk, but now, as John flicks through the finished work, seems like it was a risk worth taking. John stops at the final line on the final page. He reads it from so simple a beginning. Endless forms, most beautiful and most wonderful, have been and are being evolved. Beyond the elegant phrasing, John recognizes the weight of these words. In his 500 page book, Darwin is proposing that the vast variety of life on earth has evolved from earlier forms of life. That animals change over generations through a process he calls natural selection. And Darwin is saying that even quite different species all once shared a common ancestor. John isn't a scholar, but he understands Darwin's book enough to know that what the book is suggesting is controversial. For decades, new scientific discoveries have chipped away at people's certainties about the natural world. Everything from the true age of the earth to the origin of life has been questioned and debated. Some scientists still believe in the basic narrative of the Bible that a Christian God created the world and all the animals, and neither has changed since. Others though, argue that there has been a gradual process of evolution. But nearly all these different theories have included the role of a creator. Until now. Darwin's theory of natural selection seems to remove God entirely. And that's not the only reason the book is likely to ruffle feathers. Darwin makes it clear that he regards humans as just another species, subject to the same evolutionary pressures as any other animal that flies. In the face of traditional Christian teaching about the place of humanity in creation and its unique relationship with God. These controversial ideas are the reason Darwin has been so tight lipped about his work until now. It's also the reason that John more than doubled the initial print order for on the Origin of Species. John believes that both supporters and opponents will want to read Darwin's book for themselves. John is right. But even doubling the print run isn't enough to keep up with demand. A second edition is published within only two months of the first and soon, Darwin's work is translated into other languages and appearing on bookshelves all across the world. On the Origin of Species we'll throw fuel onto a debate which has already been smoldering for years. And although Darwin will try to avoid direct confrontation with his opponents, he has friends and allies who won't hesitate to defend him publicly. And the stage will be set for one of Victorian England's most notorious debates, when religion and science will clash and Darwin's most controversial ideas will be put to the test. Oh, hey.