was in constant change, because nature favored the fittest through the process of natural selection .(Vorzimmer, 1970)Writing the Origin Three and a half years have passed since Darwin read Malthus in October 1838 before he finally sat down to write his ideas formally in May 1842. There are two main reasons for this lengthy delay. First, throughout his life Darwin suffered from ill health, which began to get acute in 1837, and was particularly debilitating between 1838 and 1842. Second, during this time Darwin had more pressing matters to attend to. In particular he was working on the book, Coral Reefs, papers for the Geological society, and work connected with the Zoology of the voyage of the Beagle. (Bowler, 1990)After completing the initial first sketch of 35 pages, he set out to write a larger and more thrall sketch in 1844. By the time he was finished the sketch numbered 230 pages. However, Darwin still proceeded to write his ideas on evolution at a leisurely pace, and not until 1856, when urged by his colleague Lyell, did he start working on his magnum opus, the Origin. (Darwin, 1958)By June 1858, Darwin had completed about half of the book (on a scale three to four times as large as when it was later published), when one day a nasty surprise awaited him. On June 18, Darwin received a manuscript from the English naturalist Wallace. In the manuscript Wallace described the theory of natural selection, and asked Darwin to comment on his ideas. Darwin thought that the only honorable thing to do was to recommend the paper for publication. (Vorzimmer, 1970)Fortunately for Darwin, Lyell suggested (and Wallace and Darwin accepted) that both Wallaces paper and extracts from Darwins sketch of 1844 be published simultaneously, thus establishing the rights of both to priority. Interestingly, later on at the fiftieth anniversary meeting of their joint publication, Wallace made it clear that although the idea of natural selection came to both...
