charles_darwin

The Life of Charles Darwin
attention amongst palæontologists,’’ noted Darwin later. 29 In the Galapagos
Islands, he found (and collected specimens of) twenty-six
different species of land birds: all except one could only be found in
the Galapagos. There were also the ‘‘curious finches’’ of the Galapagos.
The ornithologist John Gould (1804–1881) later identified thirteen
different species and four new subgenera from the specimens. 30
In places like Tahiti, Darwin found ‘‘useful wild plants’’ such as sugar
cane, arum, and yam: specimens of these were sent back to England
for analysis. 31
The more he observed and collected, the more Darwin reflected
on the significance of his observations and his specimens. Why were
some animals and plants found in one location but not in another,
even though the distance between the two locations was not large?
Why were the same types of animals and plants found in the same
latitude but in completely different countries? Why were some varieties
of species unique to islands separated by long distances from
any continent? Darwin wrote his thoughts on biodiversity and biogeography
to friends such as Henslow. His reflections and comments
ranged so widely—from the formation of coral reefs to the ways in
which seeds could be transported over the Pacific Ocean—that many
naturalists were eagerly awaiting the publication of Darwin’s findings
from the voyage. Voyaging on the Beagle turned Darwin’s life toward
a career in science. Writing the papers, articles, and books based on
his research during the five-year voyage made Darwin famous.
Charles Darwin was a well-known scientist fifteen years before The
Origin of Species was published.
27
From the Voyage of the Beagle to The Origin
of Species
The popular myth is that Darwin had a ‘‘eureka moment’’ about
the theory of evolution while observing the unique species on the
Galapagos Islands: this was not the case. However, it is true that Darwin’s
observations in the Galapagos and in the other countries he
visited had a profound effect on his thinking. Darwin began to think
about the relationships among the facts he was accumulating. Was
there a larger thesis that would accommodate all of the disparate
pieces of information he had gathered? For example, was there a
connection between the formation of mountain ranges and the locations
of particular species? In July 1837, less than nine months after
landing at Falmouth, Darwin began writing down his thoughts on
the relationship and origins of species in a notebook.