Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species
- Date
- 24 November 1859
- Category
- Science, technology & invention
- Region
- Britain (London)
- Era
- Modern
- Significance
On 24 November 1859 the English naturalist Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, arguing that the diversity of life arose through descent with modification from common ancestors, driven chiefly by natural selection acting on heritable variation.
Drawing on decades of observation, including his Beagle voyage, and prompted to publish by Alfred Russel Wallace's independent arrival at a similar theory (presented jointly to the Linnean Society in 1858), Darwin marshalled extensive evidence from breeding, biogeography, comparative anatomy, and the fossil record. The first print run of 1,250 copies sold out on the first day. The book provided a unifying mechanism for biology and challenged prevailing beliefs in the fixity of species and special creation, provoking intense scientific, religious, and philosophical debate. Over subsequent decades natural selection, later fused with genetics, became the central organising theory of the life sciences. Few single works have so profoundly reshaped humanity's understanding of the natural world and its own place within it.
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Empires active in 24 November 1859
- French Colonial Empire (Second)1830 CE – 1962 CE
- Russian Empire1721 CE – 1917 CE
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Qing Dynasty1636 CE – 1912 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
Related science, technology & invention events
- Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction29 August 1831
- John Snow traces cholera to the Broad Street pump1854
- Third Plague Pandemic begins in Yunnan1855 (origin in Yunnan); global spread from 1894
- Maxwell formulates the theory of electromagnetism1865–1873
- Opening of the Suez Canal17 November 1869
- Bell Patents the Telephone1876
Further reading
If you read one book
The Reluctant Mr. Darwin
Engaging short account of Darwin and his big idea.
Get it on Amazon →Also worth reading
- Darwin's Origin of Species: A Biography — Amazon →
Darwin's Origin of Species: A Biography
Short, expert 'book that changed the world' on how Origin came to be.
Get it on Amazon →
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