Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16Combined with early dinosaur discoveries-which introduced the concept of extinction-it became clear that the history of life on Earth was more complex and convoluted than ever imagined. It was with this new worldview that Darwin set out on his voyage of discovery. Indeed, had Darwin left twenty years earlier, he probably could not have put the pieces together the way he did. Early Geology and Dinosaurs The first part of the exhibit focuses on early geological and paleontological discoveries. It was the work of James Hutton and Charles Lyell around the turn of the century that convinced the scientific community that Earth was very old and continuously formed and reformed by natural proceeses such as erosion and volcanic activity.