On this day in 1835, the origin of species was founded.
The HMS Beagle cut through the eastern Pacific Ocean towards the Galápagos Islands off Ecuador’s coast. Seventy-four crew members were onboard, one of which being a young English naturalist named Charles Darwin. The voyage was the Beagle’s second, intended to survey South America and, with the talents of a scientific mind, to collect specimens and observations of the uncharted territory.
Darwin was recommended for the trip by his professor, John Henslow, at the University of Edinburgh, and upon hearing of the proposed opportunity, Darwin eagerly accepted. Henslow wrote to Darwin: “There was never a finer chance for a man of zeal or spirit… Don’t put on any modest doubts or fears about your disqualifications, for I assure you I think you are the very man they are in search of.”
After an extensive trip around the west coast of South America, the Beagle dropped anchor at what is now Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the capital of the Galápagos Islands. Darwin went ashore instantly, using his first hour to document natural phenomena he had only ever dreamt of: volcanic cones, exotic insects, scrub thickets, iguanas, tortoises, and, perhaps most famously, finches.
His notes of the exploration remain exceptional, both for their detail and personality. He wrote in his notebook about the tortoises: “Met an immense Turpin; took little notice of me.” As Darwin observed the flora and fauna of the Galápagos, he began to formulate the beginnings of what would become his famous theory of evolution. By studying the different types of adaptations in iguanas and birds from each island, Darwin was able to slowly differentiate each one and accurately connect them to their island of origin— natural selection, as it would later be called, which would revolutionize our idea of evolutionary biology.
The Beagle’s stop at the Galápagos Islands on that fateful September day marked a pivot for humanity’s understanding of how evolution works. What began as a two-year journey to chart a map turned into a five-year ordeal that resulted in the change of science itself.
Now, when one mentions the words “finches,” “Galápagos,” or “evolution,” the collective thought in response is that of one name: Charles Darwin. He departed England as a 22-year-old college graduate and unknowingly returned as one of the most influential and important figures in all of human history.
