charles_darwin

The Life of Charles Darwin
from about 1839, when the theory was clearly conceived, to 1859,’’
Darwin wrote in this autobiography, ‘‘and I lost nothing for it, for I
cared very little whether men attributed most originality to me or
Wallace; and his essay no doubt aided in the reception of the
theory.’’ 47
Looking no further than Darwin’s other major books provides
proof that his modus operandi rather than his religious sensibilities
explain the long period of gestation for The Origin of Species. Darwin
began collecting facts for what would become The Descent of Man
while working on The Origin of Species in the 1850s. The Descent of
Man was not published until 1871. Other books such as The Various
Contrivances by which British and Foreign Orchids are Fertilised by
Insects, Insectivorous Plants, and The Formation of Vegetable Mould,
through the Action of Worms, with Observations on their Habits were
equally long in the making: fifteen, twenty, or more years.
In 1856, at the urging of Charles Lyell, Darwin decided ‘‘to
write out my views pretty fully.’’ 48 Lyell had good reason to push
Darwin. In September 1855, an article written by Alfred Russel Wallace
(1823–1913), a Welsh naturalist who was doing research in the
Malaysian archipelago at the time, appeared in Annals and Magazine
of Natural History: its title was ‘‘On the Law which has regulated the
Introduction of New Species.’’ Lyell was worried that another naturalist
might preempt Darwin—and receive the praise and honor for
doing groundbreaking research—even though Darwin had been
working on his ‘‘Species’’ for more than twenty years.
Some time before 1856 Darwin had a eureka moment. He was
certain transmutation occurred, but how? The answer, he realized,
was that organic beings became more and more different from each
other as they underwent more modification. The species were not so
different that it was impossible to see the relationship between
wolves and dogs, for example; but their evolutionary paths were different
enough that a wolf would not be mistaken for a lion. Darwin
was so excited about his insight that he wrote, ‘‘I can remember the
very spot in the road, whilst in my carriage, when to my joy the solution
occurred to me.’’ 49
On 14 May 1856, Darwin began to write a complete explanation
of his theory. He called it his ‘‘big book’’ on species. 50 This writing
occupied most of his time until June 1858. He wrote a chapter,
sent it to a scientist for comment, usually Hooker or Lyell, and revised
it—sometimes at the same time as working on a new one.
What survives of this manuscript amounts to about 225,000 words, a
book of well over five hundred pages. 51 The full manuscript was
never published.
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