Generally regarded as the most prominent of the nineteenth-century evolutionary theorists, Charles Darwin is primarily known for his, “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, the publication of which in 1859 ushered in a new era of naturalistic thinking that was to influence not only the field of biological science, but also the disciplines of art, literature, philosophy, and theology”(2). In the work Darwin identified genetic mutation and natural selection as the mechanisms that controlled the development of species.

His theory introduced the concept of ever-present competitive struggle in nature, “There by decentering the commonly held Romantic view of nature as a benign, even benevolent force, and pushed the role of God to the margins of human existence on earth”(2). Although one of many contributors to the field of evolutionary biology, Darwin is commonly associated with the popular acceptance of evolutionary theory, and his Origin is believed to be the impetus for an intellectual revolution as philosophers, social scientists, and writers began to explore the far reaching implications of his theory, which posed a serious challenge to the orthodoxy of Victorian religion, science, and philosophy.

Darwin wrote several books on a range of scientific topics, including botany, zoology, and geology. “Among his earliest works, the Journal of Researches is as much a travelogue as a book on science, and captures his responses to the beauty of the Brazilian rainforest and cultural observations of the natives at Tierra del Fuego”(3). This work differs from Darwin's scientific writings in that it shows his more personal and intimate style, a feature also found in his two most well known books, On the Origin of Species and The Descent of Man. In the Origin Darwin argued that environmental