Vestiges of the natural history of creation

This book, published in 1844, presents a cosmic theory of transmutation, now known as evolution, explaining the development of the solar system, Earth, and life forms through natural law.

It starts with the nebular hypothesis for the solar system's formation and proceeds through the origins of life, geology, and the progression of fossils from simple to complex organisms, culminating in human evolution.

The book was highly controversial in its time, contradicting Victorian natural theology and preparing the public for later scientific theories of evolution by natural selection, such as those in Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species'.