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Correspondence

Nature 426, 759 (18 December 2003) | doi:10.1038/426759b

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What Darwin knew

William L. Abler1

  1. Department of Geology, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605, USA

In his review of the republication of James Hutton's 1794 book An Investigation of the Principles of Knowledge and of the Progress of Reason, from Sense to Science and Philosophy, Paul N. Pearson (Nature 425, 665; 2003) tells us that Hutton devoted an entire chapter to natural selection, and adds, "it seems possible that a half-forgotten concept from his [Darwin's] student days resurfaced afresh in his mind as he struggled to explain the observations of species and varieties compiled from the voyage of the Beagle".