Evolutionary delay

SIR: In her entertaining account of HMS Beagle (May issue), Sara Wheeler tells of Charles Darwin’s epic five-year voyage around the world. ‘When he returned,’ she writes, ‘he published On the Origin of Species, a book that rocked Victorian England and changed natural science for ever.’

Actually Darwin returned in 1836, and three years later published his Journal and Remarks, now known as The Voyage of the Beagle.

It was not until 1859, 23 years after his return, that he finally published On the Origin of Species. Why he delayed for so long is another story…

Yours sincerely, Edward Mirzoeff, London SW13