When charles darwin set sail on the hms beagle, what did he and most of his contemporary scientists think about the origin of species? when charles darwin set sail on the hms beagle, what did he and most of his contemporary scientists think about the origin of species?

In the 19th century, before Charles Darwin published his book ''On the origins of species'' most of the naturalists believed that the species were each created by a higher power just the way they are and that they were not able to change through time and evolutionary processes. Darwin's work was highly controversial at the time because it challenged this idea.