How Old was the World Thought to Be When Darwin

Question

How old was the world thought to be when Darwin began his voyage?
A) 6 million years old
B) 6 thousand years old
C) 3.5 million years old
D) 2 billion years old
E) 4.5 billion years old

Accepted Answer

At the time Darwin began his voyage on the HMS Beagle in 1831, the prevailing belief was that the world was only 6,000 years old, based on a literal interpretation of the Bible. It wasn't until later in the 19th century that geologists began to recognize geological formations and processes that took much longer periods of time, leading to the development of the theory of an earth that was billions of years old.