'Darwin's delay' myth rebutted by scholar

Scholars call it"Darwin's delay," a reference to the best-known case of dithering in science, in which the great English naturalist sat on his theory of evolution for decades because he was so fearful its findings would be mauled by religious leaders and powerful figures in the establishment.

Today, that long-held belief within the scientific community is rebutted by a leading Darwinian scholar.

Dr John van Wyhe, a Cambridge University academic and director of the Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online, says the reasons why Darwin procrastinated are far more prosaic.

He was obliged to catalogue the vast numbers of specimens he found on his South American voyage on the Beagle, developed an all-consuming obsession with barnacles and was a slow and methodical worker.

By the standard account, Darwin became convinced of evolution in 1837 and was only prompted to publish his work On the Origin of Species in 1859, after receiving a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, a naturalist and explorer who had arrived at the same idea...

There has been endless speculation about its cause: fears for his reputation; religious persecution; upsetting his religious wife and even disturbing the social order.

Dr van Wyhe's re-evaluation of Darwin's papers, published today in the Notes and Records of the Royal Society, rewrites this pivotal chapter in the story of Darwin's life.

Related Links

Mind the gap: did Darwin avoid publishing his theory for many years? (Notes and Records -- subscription required)

Darwin and the 20-year publication gap (Nature -- subscription required)