eagle. After completing the initial first sketch of 35 pages, he set out to write a larger 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. 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. Fortunately, for Darwin, Lyell suggested (and Wallace and Darwin accepted) that both Wallace's paper and extracts from Darwin's 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 of them independently, Darwin's contributions outweighed his by twenty to one because Darwin had the credit of twenty years of priority and work.Finally, by 1859 Darwin finished writing the book, and on November 24 the Origin was first published. The sales of the book exceeded everyone's expectations (by 1876 16,000 copies were sold in England alone), and the book's impact was felt almost immediately. In the mid nineteenth century English society where science was a popular topic of conversation, the book competed with such dinner party topics as the Italian revolution. Even those who despised its content were quick to concede its importance. Within the scientific community, the book was creating a new paradigm that threatened to disrupt the existi...
