Charles Darwin in 1853. Chalk drawing by Samuel lawrence (1817-1884). From Darwin and the Beagle by Alan Moorhead, page 246. Charles Robert Darwin (1809 -1896) was a British naturalist who achieved lasting fame as the originator of the theory of evolution through natural selection. Darwin's five-year voyage on the Beagle brought him eminence as a geologist and fame as a popular author. His biological observations led him to study the transmutation of species and develop his theory of natural selection in 1838. His 1859 book, "The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection," or "The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life," established evolution by common descent as the dominant scientific theory of diversification in nature.