[NicknamedBob]

"... I have often wondered what the world would be like today if Charles Darwin had stayed in medical school or had gone into the clergy like he’d planned. Would someone else have come up with the Theory of Evolution?"

That's a certainty. From the article quoted in post one, "... the idea was not his alone. Another naturalist, Alfred Wallace, came to the same conclusion as that of Darwin."

In fact, for someone of supposed zealousness to either gain immortal fame or overturn creationist teachings, Darwin took a very large chance in waiting about twenty years to publish his theory.

This tells me at least, that simple fame or infamy were not his goal. He knew that he was on the right track scientifically, and he wanted to further human knowledge and understanding.

[Stonewall Jackson]

I have never studied much about Darwin, so I didn’t know about Wallace. Thanks for the heads-up.