According to Wikipedia: "Robert Chambers FRSE (10 July 1802 - 17 March 1871) was a Scottish author, journal editor and publisher who, like his elder brother William Chambers, the publisher and politician, was highly influential in the mid-19th century in both scientific and political circles. He was the anonymous author of Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, which was so controversial that his authorship was not acknowledged until after his death."