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Charles Darwin: The Origin of Species

SFG75

SFG75

Well-Known Member
After reading the political tripe of Michelle Malkin, I've decided to swing my next reading venture to something that actually constitutes intelligent discussion. The Origin of Species is of course, Darwin's most influential work that is responsible for only a minor thing, the incorporation of evolution as a bedrock principle to modern science. One surprising finding so far to me, is that Darwin credits earlier researchers with their findings onvariation and how they put forward an idea of evolution and variation limited only by their own time and lack of research. Darwin mentions many cases to make his case for variation and of the idea of "survival of the fittest." This book wasn't surprising to me, perhaps as these ideas are already accepted matter of factly.

The writing is a bit obtuse and dry, just as most academic pieces are, though the writings about the different species and his subsequent destruction of the idea of every species being an immutable creation is quite a treat. I hope to be half-way done tonight. I have to visit a few graduation parties for former students of mine and hope to relax tonight with coffee and this great book.:cool:
 
Sounds great!

I myself am terrified of science books written before the 20th century since they usually don't have the H.G. Wells' let's-educate-the-masses-by-putting-lots-of-jokes-and-day-to-day-examples spirit that makes reading Steven Pinker, Carl Sagan, Robert Anton Wilson and others so enjoyable. So my hat's off to you :)
 
I've got this in my TBR pile somewhere among Common Sense, The Prince, Utopia and Discourse on the Method. I'm quite interested in non-fiction books that could be or are considered literature, but it appears I'm more interested in wanting to read them rather than actually reading them.

I would really enjoy retiring early, and devoting every day to a new great read. I think I could enjoy The Origin of Species in a day. Fortunately, it is teaching my students that gives me the motivation to learn so feverishly, so I don't seriously plan on quitting my job. Working is going to delay my enjoyment of Darwin's book, however, but I'll know where to discuss it when I get it read.
 
Looks like Darin's letters are going digital.

Darwin was a prolific letter writer, exchanging correspondence with nearly 2,000 people during his lifetime (1809-1882). Nearly 14,500 of his letters are known to exist, with the biggest collection residing in Cambridge.
Click to expand...
 
We read the Origin in my History and Philosophy of Science class in college. I'd read bits of it before but was fairly put off by the flowery language. PNAS journal articles are easier to read than Darwin (if you skip the materials and methods section)... still, I liked it and I would like to read it again.

Have you gotten to the evolution of honey bees yet? I love how he identified bumble bees as the "ancestral" species to honey bees based on their comb structure; bumble bees having the less efficiant round comb structure, honey bees producing the space and wax saving hexagonal form. I know I've massively oversimplified it, but I thought it was a really grand little example.

Now if only he could have gotten the heritary mechanism right. It's really too bad Darwin never met Mendel.
 
If you're reading a book as old as this, it's worth bearing in mind that some of it's very out of date. Darwin didn't know the mechainism for genetic inheritance at the time he wrote Origin. For anyone interested in evolutionary theory as it stands today, The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins is excellent.
 
To true, Darwin did not understand the mechanism for inheritance. Though he rejected Lamarkianism early in his life, he came to accept it as the only explanation available at the time... even though it didn't quite make sense to him. As I said before, if only he would have met Mendel, a contemporary who performed experiments that demonstrated a more plausible method of inheritance, Darwin's theory would have been much more cohesive in his own time.

I agree that BWM is a very worthy book, but for a true understanding of the history of the theory of evolution, "The Origin of Species" is a must. Many of the examples he provided remain in modern evolutionary theory, still examined and reinforced today.
 
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