THE RECORD
What changed
Darwin argued evolution by natural selection, while Pennsylvania's Drake well symbolized commercial petroleum extraction.
EVIDENCE
What remains
Editions, notes, specimens, well records, photographs and production figures document both changes.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
Evolution reshaped life sciences; petroleum reshaped transport, chemistry and geopolitics.
OPEN QUESTION
Where interpretation begins
Darwin was not alone and Drake was not the world's first oil extraction; their pairing is editorial simultaneity.