Three books/authors which Darwin mentions in his memoirs as having influenced him as a young man. From the left they are: William Paley's 1802 'Natural Theology - or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of a Deity'. A book which used design in nature (the watchmaker analogy) as evidence of a creator. One of his University course books. Darwin greatly enjoyed its tight and careful reasoning, even though his work would ultimately undermine its entire logic. Middle, 1833 Whewell's third Bridgewater treatise on Astronomy and Physics - here the Cambridge man rather than the book are the influence. Whewell coined the very word 'scientist'. And right John Herschel's \Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy\" 1830, which more than any other book excited Darwin to pursue the boundless possibilities of science."