The Origin of Species (Wordsworth Collection) [ペーパーバック]

There is only one other book that is so widely known, discussed, and debated, yet so rarely read: that other book is the Bible. To make my point, here is a little quiz:

1) Which name is most closely associated with the theory of evolution?

2) Which book did this person write on evolution?

3) What claims are made in that book?

4) What else is contained in that book?

With astonishing regularity, the average literate adult will respond as follows: 1) Darwin, 2) Origin of Species, 3) Humans descended from apes, and 4) I have no idea. The first two are correct, the third is absolutely false, and the fourth is an admission of complete ignorance. Considering that "Origin of Species" is over 600 pages long, and took nearly two decades to write, one would expect it to contain something more than the four simple words "Humans descended from apes," which, in fact, it neither contains nor implies. So, what DOES it contain? There is one word that best summarizes the bulk of Darwin's magnum opus: "observation".

It is a lengthy book; at times it is tedious, at times politically incorrect, and at times scientifically off-base. But, despite its numerous flaws, it is one of the greatest achievements in the history of mankind. Even if you are among the few who refuse to accept Darwin's ideas, you cannot deny their impact. The theory is the cornerstone--if not the very foundation--of modern biology. Whatever your preconceptions, you will likely be surprised by this work. Darwin was the consummate naturalist and scientist, as well as a refined and articulate gentleman. "Origin" is a delight and an epiphany to read. It's amazing how much Darwin got right, despite the fact that he had essentially no idea of how inheritance worked. It's amazing how much data Darwin carefully assembled, analyzed, and described. It's amazing how meticulously Darwin weighed the evidence, noting when competing theories made different predictions, when the available evidence was not what he would have expected, and what future evidence could completely discredit (falsify) his theory. It's amazing in its honesty.

The misconceptions about "Origin of Species" are not merely rampant, they are effectively universal, fueled (largely in the US) by the rise of creationism, which seeks first and foremost to vilify the theory of evolution as well as Darwin (often failing to distinguish between the two). It's worth the time to read this enormous but meticulously crafted volume, if only to allow you to form your own opinions about such an influential book. Once you have, take the little quiz again. You may need 600 pages to answer the last question.

The Origin of Species, for the first time offering an adequate explanation for biological change and origins, should be required reading for anyone interested in biology, history, or life in general. Because the book outlines the beginnings of a vast, new theory, it is accessible to laypersons. It does not suffer from the esotericism of most scientific writings, which expect readers to have a working knowledge of a specific scientific idea. Darwin starts from scratch and builds up all the evidence for his theory in a way that renders his argument undeniable.

Darwin's idea explains the production of differing species through natural selection. Darwin did little to explain evolution, or the change, of species, but this book fully outlines how the mechanism of selection would make sure such random changes would produce complex organisms. The mechanism Darwin proposes is at once so simple and seems so obvious with hindsight. It is something evident to any dog breeder--that traits can be selected and passed on to different generations--and Darwin even draws upon knowledge of artificial selection in birds and dogs to bolster his claims. Ultimately, however, the evidence for evolution by natural selection lies not in a vague analogy to artificial selection, but in the predictions Darwin's theory made and fulfilled. Darwin's expectation of biological similarity in ancestors and descendants is fulfilled by simply looking at exterior features or even bone structures. He also notes that his theory thoroughly predicts and explains the existence of rudimentary features like teeth in whale embryos and flightless wings in birds. The fact that island species correspond most with similar species on the nearest continent, instead of in distant lands, shows that these species are descended from them and changed after migrating to a separate environment. Darwin also showed how his theory explained the difficulties with classifying species, because evolution thoroughly broke down the distinction of species as pure and distinct.

Not only is this book useful in gaining an understanding of evolution, but it is also a good outline for scientific methodology and research. One comes into reading the book wondering how one could prove an unobservable process that takes millions of years to occur, and is overwhelmed by the ingenuity of the predictions offered by the theory that are fulfilled by subsequent observations. Darwin's book shows that the predictive power of theories are vital, allowing them to be tested and refuted. The entire book outlines the vacuousness of the design inference as a common explanation for life, showing that an inference of design does not explain similarity in biological structures, vestigial and rudimentary parts, the geological distribution of life, and the difficulty in classifying species. All of these observations are explored in meticulous detail by Darwin, and shown to be thoroughly explained by evolution combined with natural selection.

From a historical perspective, reading the book causes one to marvel at Darwin's ingenuity. One can see glimmers of later discoveries reflected in Darwin's reasoning. One shakes one's head at his ability to explain the distribution of life by glaciers and flight and rafting...only to realize that the theory of plate tectonics would have been a delightful solution to the several problems Darwin noted with distribution for fossilized species. Darwin often makes bold predictions that the modern reader knows come true, and it is simply a wonderful thing to behold such accuracy.

The Origin of Species is a wonderful book, accessible to all, and a treasure to read for anyone with a passion for history, science, or life.

This is not a difficult book to read, and I would encourage readers to read the original work of Darwin.

"The Origin of Species" is considered to be an important work in both world literature and science. An interesting aspect of the book was the pressure for Darwin to publish the book. Prior to publishing, he had spent almost 30 years developing and testing his ideas. The book is a combination of argument and debate along with descriptions of Darwin's own experiments with birds and plants, including his own cabbage garden. In short, according to Darwin, the evolution of species takes place over a long time period and is a series of random events with survival of the fitest, or what is called "natural selection."

Darwin was born in 1809, trained as a botanist and zoologist at Cambridge University, and made his famous trip on the H.M.S. Beagle from 1831 to 1836. He was first inspired by the writings of the geologist Sir Charles Lyell. This same geologist would play an important role in pushing Darwin to publish his findings in 1856.

Darwin - as he writes in his book - was not working alone. He was not the first to come up with the ideas. Darwin was preceded by many before him with similar ideas. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire wrote as early as 1795 that species are "degenerations of the same type." Lamarck was in fact the first person to suggest that "all species, including man, are descended from other species." He published his ideas in 1801, 1809, and 1815. W.C. Wells presented a paper on human skin colors in 1813 and published his results in 1818. This was followed by The Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert published in the "Horticultural Transactions" in 1822 that "botanical species are only a higher and more permanent class of varieties." In 1826 professor Grant "declares his belief that species are descendent from other species." Also, Von Bush in 1836 "expresses his belief that varieties slowly become changed into permanent species." And, in 1846 M.J. d'Omalius d'Halloy published a paper with his opinion "that it is more probable that new species have been produced by descent with modification than they have been separately created."

After the Beagle trip, Darwin's main pre-occupation was to prepare his five volume work "Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle" over the years 1840 - 1843. Also, he undertook a series of experiments on evolution and wrote shorter papers. But in 1856 geologist Sir Charles Lyell persuaded Darwin to take his notes and publish "The Origin of Species." As he prepared the book, Alfred Russel Wallace sent him a manuscript with an identical or similar theory. The two men decided to present their works simultaneously to the Linnaean Society. Wallace had visited Malaysia and come up with similar conclusions to Darwin, but he had not yet prepared an impresive large book, as had Darwin.

Darwin had been very cautious, and in the years 1840 to 1856 he had undertaken a number of experiments himself with pigeons and various plants. He had even joined two pigeon clubs and had his own garden in the country. He describes some of the slightly amusing details in the book. For example, he was able to grow over 200 varieties of cabbages by cross breeding. Among the findings, he had come to the conclusion that domestic pigeons were probably all related back to the rock-pigeon (Columba livia). He undertook a number of experiments including one where he mated two mongrel pigeons, and the resulting offspring looked like rock-pigeons.

So, although Wallace had the same ideas at the same time, Darwin had a fifteen years accumulation of notes, observations, and his own experiments that he could put into the book. Once the book came out it was an instant best seller and Wallace was largely forgotten, along with his other predecessors. Darwin was very cautious with his findings, and the many years researching and thinking about his ideas - almost two decades - paid off for him when he finally released the near 700 page book.

Darwin published a second well known book in 1871: "The Descent of Man."

"The Origin of Species" is a well crafted and interesting book. There are just a few figures in the book. It is an easy read, although some parts have many small details. Darwin lectures us on a variety of subjects such as flower reproduction. The heart of the book is Chapter IV: Natural Selection. He has fifteen chapters covering a range of topics including geology and fossils.

It must be remembered that when the book came out in 1859 it was generally assumed that only God could create life. The book was revolutionary, and too detailed to refute. It was a comprehensive book and came as a major challenge to the accepted norm. At the end in the conclusion Darwin tells the reader that his findings just give a different explanation in the way "the Creator" works, and it does not imply a lack of a God.