Abstract
Darwin mentions the Galapagos Islands in two sections of On the Origin of Species. In fact, in comparison with other sources of data, the information from the Galapagos is dimly treated in Darwin’s major work. This fact contrasts with contemporary historiography and folk culture that give such a central role to the Archipelago in Darwin’s thinking. On the Origin of Species is the product of 24 years of thinking and further research (1835–1859), not the 5 weeks that Darwin spent in the Galapagos Islands or the 5 years he spent on board the H. M. S. Beagle around the world. The Galapagos surely provided Darwin with some decisive clues that will be discussed in this chapter, but Darwin’s complete understanding of natural selection and the Galapagos required as long as it took him to publish On the Origin.
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Sevilla, A. (2017). On the Origin of Species and the Galapagos Islands. In: Quiroga, D., Sevilla, A. (eds) Darwin, Darwinism and Conservation in the Galapagos Islands. Social and Ecological Interactions in the Galapagos Islands. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-34052-4_2
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