Darwin’s theory nearly didn’t make it

Charles Darwin’s publisher was urged by an adviser not to publish the scientist’s historic work “On the Origin of Species,” The Times reported on Wednesday. Citing correspondence between Darwin’s publisher John Murray and one of his special advisers Reverend Whitwell Elwin that is on display at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh, the paper said that Elwin suggested instead that Darwin write about pigeons.

Murray asked Elwin for his opinion on Darwin’s work on evolution, and unsurprisingly for a reverend, Elwin gave the evolutionary thesis, which challenged Church teaching of creationism, a thumbs-down.