On the Origin of Species

On this day in 1859, Charles Darwin published his seminal work, On the Origin of Species.

Obviously the idea for what we call evolution was in the air. If you listen to the clip above you may notice he credits Alfred Russel Wallace with coming to nearly identical conclusions at roughly the same time.

But this idea floating in the air contained within it a revolution. Its consequences in biological studies is incalculable.

I’m mostly concerned with the religious and spiritual consequences. Less, I hasten to say, with how it implicitly challenges the origin myths of all religions. And much more with the way it shows a humble approach, watching, listening, and remaining hesitant in deciding what is so can lead to profound things.