Abstract
Much ink has been spilled to explain why Darwin avoided publishing his views for many years. Although
a general consensus was never achieved on any one reason, not much doubt has been raised as to the
existence of such a delay. In this article I argue that there was no delay. Darwin published his views as
soon as he developed a defensible theory. I argue that the appearance of a delay emerged as a
consequence of reading Darwin out of context. Once we distinguish what would constitute a satisfactory
account of transmutation for Darwin from what it would be for us, there will be no plausible case to
argue that Darwin delayed publication.