Cold Open

It’s October 17th, 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 a “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 are 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 environment. 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 is determined to find out.

It will be another year before Charles Darwin returns home to England. But the samples and notes he 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 twenty years of collaboration with other scientists will Darwin unveil his radical theory of evolution to the world when his book, On the Origin of Species, is published on November 24th, 1859.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay 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 24th, 1859: Darwin’s Origin of Species.

Act One: Publication

It’s late in the morning of November 24th, 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 clothbound 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 his 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 the clarity of Darwin’s arguments.

John has known Darwin for nearly fifteen 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’s 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, it seems like it was a risk worth taking.

John stops at the final line on the final page. He reads it aloud, “...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 animal’s change over generations through a process he calls “natural selection.” And Darwin’s saying that even quite different species all one 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 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 will 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.

Act Two: Debate

It’s June 30th, 1860, at Oxford University’s Museum of Natural History, seven months after the publication of On the Origin of Species.

Joseph Dalton Hooker shifts in an uncomfortable library chair and idly examines the room’s unpainted walls. The museum only opened this year, and its interiors aren’t finished yet. Still, hundreds of scholars have gathered here for the annual conference of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

And this year’s meeting promises to be a dramatic one. It’s the first major event of the scientific calendar since the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, and it’s almost the only thing anyone can talk about. Darwin himself isn’t here. But he has old friends like Joseph Hooker who are determined to support him—and his controversial new theory.

It’s also Joseph’s 43rd birthday today. But there’s nowhere he’d rather be than here. Rumors that a debate on evolution will take place later have drawn a large crowd to the library. But first, they must all sit through a talk on the history of intellectual development in Europe. The speaker is finally wrapping up when Joseph spots a commotion at the back of the room. The Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, has arrived late and is pushing his way to the front. That seems to be a signal to the speaker to finish his lecture, and soon, the presiding officer invites Bishop Wilberforce to address the crowd.

Joseph leans back in his chair. If Bishop Wilberforce has come to attack Darwin, then he’s ready to defend him. And he’s not alone. He’s joined in the library by another scientist and champion of Darwin, the anthropologist Thomas Henry Huxley.

Together, they listen as Wilberforce speaks. For half an hour, he describes Darwin’s arguments and tries to disprove them. In his book, Darwin used hundreds of examples from animal breeders to illustrate how species can change over generations, but Wilberforce insists this only shows how one species cannot be turned into another; no matter how many dogs you breed, you still get a dog. Darwin’s work with fossils does not impress him either, with Wilberforce asking where humanity’s supposed ancestors are—the earliest known fossils of humans are no different from anyone else in the room right now. He says this proves God’s unchanging design and then finally turns to Joseph and Thomas, asking them sarcastically whether it was their grandfather or their grandmother who was an ape. The bishop’s allies in the room roar with laughter.

But Joseph and Thomas just shake their heads. Darwin has claimed that illness has prevented him from attending the conference in person, but both suspect this is a convenient half-truth. Darwin does not enjoy public debate, preferring to let his work speak for itself. But Joseph and Thomas relish intellectual conflict, and they have come ready for a fight.

It’s Thomas Huxley who replies to the Bishop first. To Joseph’s delight, he counters Wilberforce’s mockery with a jibe of his own. He says he would prefer to have an ape for a grandfather than a man who demeans himself and his audience with a joke like that. When Thomas eventually sits, he is rewarded by a sustained round of applause.

Next comes a distinguished-looking gentleman in his mid-50s. He introduces himself as Admiral Robert FitzRoy. 25 years ago, he was the captain of HMS Beagle and considered Charles Darwin a friend. Now, though, he declares that he wishes he had never taken Darwin on board his ship. He says the Bible is the one truth, and Darwin’s book is pure heresy. Some of Bishop Wilberforce’s supporters applaud this, but the reaction from the rest of the crowd is more muted—not everyone is comfortable hearing FitzRoy’s fiery religious speech in what is supposed to be a place of science.

Then, finally, it's Joseph’s turn. He tells the crowd that he supports Darwin’s theory because he believes it is the best explanation he’s seen for the wonderful variety of the natural world. But he’s not dogmatic. If anyone can offer a stronger hypothesis, then he would be open to it. That is what real scientists do.

Then Joseph turns to Bishop Wilberforce, who’s sitting with his arms crossed gruffly across his chest. Joseph asks if he has even read The Origin of Species. Because if he had, he would know that he has completely misunderstood Darwin’s theories, and he has proven nothing with his speech. Though Joseph is careful to be civil, he hopes his message is clear—this is a scientific debate, not a theological one, and Bishop Wilberforce is out of his depth.

This heated discussion will become known as the Oxford Debate. And by the end of the day, both sides will leave the library convinced that they have won the argument. But the larger controversy over The Origin of Species will be far from over, and Charles Darwin will dedicate the rest of his life to defending, refining, and rewriting his great work.

Act Three: Legacy

It’s April 26th, 1882, in Westminster Abbey, London, over two decades after the Oxford Debate.

Thomas Huxley clenches his jaw as the coffin of his friend, Charles Darwin, digs into his shoulder. Thomas is one of ten men who have been given the honor of serving as pallbearers. Marching in step alongside him are not only other scientists, but dukes and earls. In death, Darwin is being given one of the greatest honors Britain can bestow—burial in London’s greatest church, where the great and the good can pay their respects to the man who changed humanity’s understanding of the natural world.

Over the last two decades of his life, despite repeated bouts of illness, Darwin revised and rewrote On the Origin of Species multiple times. Each new version addressed criticisms of the previous one. But though he tried to keep working, his health declined, and in 1882, Darwin finally died of heart disease at the age of 73.

Now, his funeral procession reaches a grand marble tomb in the heart of Westminster Abbey. It’s the resting place of another of Britain’s great scientists—Sir Isaac Newton. Below it, a space has been opened in the stone floor for Darwin. The pallbearers lower his coffin into the ground and then step back. Thomas Huxley takes his place beside his old debating ally, Joseph Dalton Hooker. They both think being laid to rest beside Newton would please their friend more than all the pomp of the ceremony combined.

Because like Newton, Darwin upended consensus and changed scientific history. Although he was not the first to propose the theory of evolution, and he wasn’t the only scientist working on the idea of natural selection in the mid-19th century, it was still his work that defined the debate. And despite the attempts of critics to disprove it, the theory of evolution will come to be accepted by the vast majority of scientists in the decades to come. That’s because, thanks to Charles Darwin, science itself evolved after he published his groundbreaking work, On the Origin of Species, on November 24th, 1859.

Outro

Next on History Daily. November 25th, 1960. In the Dominican Republic, three siblings are killed by soldiers acting on the orders of the country’s president.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mollie Baack.

Music by Thrumm.

This episode is written and researched by Samuel Hume.

Edited by William Simpson.

Managing producer Emily Burke.

Executive Producers are William Simpson for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.