Editing Development of Darwin's theory (section)

{{short description|Significant aspect in the history of evolutionary biology}}
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Following the [[inception of Darwin's theory|inception of]] [[Charles Darwin]]'s theory of [[natural selection]] in 1838, the '''development of Darwin's theory''' to explain the "mystery of mysteries" of how new [[species]] originated was his "prime hobby" in the background to his main occupation of publishing the scientific results of the [[Second voyage of HMS Beagle|''Beagle'' voyage]]. He was settling into married life, but suffered from bouts of illness and after his first child was born the family moved to rural [[Down House]] as a family home away from the pressures of London.

The publication in 1839 of his ''Journal and Remarks'' (now known as ''[[The Voyage of the Beagle]]'') brought him success as an author, and in 1842 he published his first major scientific book, ''[[The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs]]'', setting out his theory of the formation of [[coral]] [[atoll]]s. He wrote out a sketch setting out his basic ideas on [[transmutation of species]], which he expanded into an "essay" in 1844, and discussed his theory with friends as well as continuing with experiments and wide investigations. In the same year the anonymous ''[[Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation]]'' brought wide public interest in evolutionary ideas, but also showed the need for sound evidence to gain scientific acceptance of [[evolution]].

In 1846 he completed his third geological book, and turned from supervising the publication of expert reports on the findings from the voyage to examining [[barnacle]] specimens himself. This grew into an eight-year study, making use of his theory to find hitherto unknown relationships between the many species of barnacle, and establishing his expertise as a biologist. His faith in Christianity dwindled and he stopped going to church. In 1851 his treasured daughter suffered a long illness and died. In 1854 he resumed his work on the species question which led on to the [[publication of Darwin's theory]].