Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin sailed round the world as naturalist on HMS Beagle from 1831 to 1836, came home with the materials for a theory of evolution by natural selection, and sat on it for twenty years, gathering evidence and fearing the consequences, until Wallace’s letter forced his hand. On the Origin of Species appeared in 1859 and sold out in a day. The Descent of Man extended the argument to human beings. The Voyage of the Beagle is the travel book that started it. He lived quietly in Kent with his barnacles, orchids and earthworms, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.