That famous drawing showing the sequential transformation of an ape into a club-wielding, fur-clad caveman – it came from Charles Darwin. As did the first stirrings of a debate between rival creationist and evolutionist camps. Darwin’s revolutionary theories formed out of his five-year scientific voyage aboard the HMS Beagle, which first got him thinking on the formation and adaptation of species to their natural environment – that on principle of natural selection (inspired partly by Thomas Malthus) only the best suited members of the species survive in their environment. Darwin’s well-reasoned argument took eight years to complete, but when published it shook the world.

On this day, November 24, in 1859, Charles Darwin published his seminal work On the Origin of Species, detailing the theory of evolution, of a mechanism by which species gradually adjust to their environment.

Darwin’s book quickly sold its initial run of 1,200 copies and the second load of 3,000 went just as quickly. While his account of the creation of species contradicts that of the bible, the controversy did not dampen his recognition. Darwin’s influence and the respect his theories earned can be seen by his official internment next to Isaac Newton – another great scientist of the age.