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The Essential Darwin
This is much less a book about Darwin than it is Darwin's book. I am convinced that there remains great value in reading Darwin, just as I am equally convinced that too few do. Perhaps this is because the nub of Darwinism—evolution by natural selection—appears so marvelously transparent in its conception as to discourage further burrowing for its root. This is unfortunate, for the Darwin who inhabits biology textbooks—the vulgar Darwin—is a pallid representation of the Darwin who lived and whose writings are contained in these —from the Preface by Kenneth Korey
327 pages, cloth
Published January 1, 1984
About the author
Charles Darwin
2,518 books3,553 followersCharles Robert Darwin of Britain revolutionized the study of biology with his theory, based on natural selection; his most famous works include
On the Origin of Species
(1859) and
The Descent of Man
(1871).
Chiefly Asa Gray of America advocated his theories.
Works of Jacques Martin Barzun include Darwin, Marx, Wagner (1941).
Charles Robert Darwin, an eminent English collector and geologist, proposed and provided scientific evidence of common ancestors for all life over time through the process that he called. The scientific community and the public in his lifetime accepted the facts that occur and then in the 1930s widely came to see the primary explanation of the process that now forms modernity. In modified form, the foundational scientific discovery of Darwin provides a unifying logical explanation for the diversity of life.
Darwin developed his interest in history and medicine at Edinburgh University and then theology at Cambridge. His five-year voyage on the Beagle established him as a geologist, whose observations and supported uniformitarian ideas of Charles Lyell, and publication of his journal made him as a popular author. Darwin collected wildlife and fossils on the voyage, but their geographical distribution puzzled him, who investigated the transmutation and conceived idea in 1838. He discussed his ideas but needed time for extensive research despite priority of geology. He wrote in 1858, when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay, which described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication.
His book of 1859 commonly established the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. He examined human sexuality in Selection in Relation to Sex , and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals followed. A series of books published his research on plants, and he finally examined effect of earthworms on soil.
A state funeral recognized Darwin in recognition of preeminence and only four other non-royal personages of the United Kingdom of the 19th century; people buried his body in Westminster abbey, close to those of John Herschel and Isaac Newton.
Her fathered Francis Darwin, astronomer George Darwin, and politician, economist and eugenicist Leonard Darwin.
(Arabic: تشارلز داروين)
Chiefly Asa Gray of America advocated his theories.
Works of Jacques Martin Barzun include Darwin, Marx, Wagner (1941).
Charles Robert Darwin, an eminent English collector and geologist, proposed and provided scientific evidence of common ancestors for all life over time through the process that he called. The scientific community and the public in his lifetime accepted the facts that occur and then in the 1930s widely came to see the primary explanation of the process that now forms modernity. In modified form, the foundational scientific discovery of Darwin provides a unifying logical explanation for the diversity of life.
Darwin developed his interest in history and medicine at Edinburgh University and then theology at Cambridge. His five-year voyage on the Beagle established him as a geologist, whose observations and supported uniformitarian ideas of Charles Lyell, and publication of his journal made him as a popular author. Darwin collected wildlife and fossils on the voyage, but their geographical distribution puzzled him, who investigated the transmutation and conceived idea in 1838. He discussed his ideas but needed time for extensive research despite priority of geology. He wrote in 1858, when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay, which described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication.
His book of 1859 commonly established the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. He examined human sexuality in Selection in Relation to Sex , and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals followed. A series of books published his research on plants, and he finally examined effect of earthworms on soil.
A state funeral recognized Darwin in recognition of preeminence and only four other non-royal personages of the United Kingdom of the 19th century; people buried his body in Westminster abbey, close to those of John Herschel and Isaac Newton.
Her fathered Francis Darwin, astronomer George Darwin, and politician, economist and eugenicist Leonard Darwin.
(Arabic: تشارلز داروين)
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 12, 2015
I read this because I was tired of hearing about Darwin and never having read him. The compilation included excerpts from his autobiography, The Voyage of the Beagle, On the Origin of Species, and The Descent of Man, as well as summary chapters on the response to Origin by Darwin’s contemporaries and the developments in evolutionary theory since Darwin.
Darwin was a pleasure to read: so matter-of-fact and curious about the world around him. The excerpts from his autobiography were blunt and fascinating. I really enjoyed his descriptions of the natural world. His theories were always supported by interesting concrete examples.
I didn’t enjoy the commentator, Kenneth Korey, as much because his writing was much less clear than Darwin’s and because he seemed to be trying too hard to defend Darwin at every turn. It seems to me that Darwin would have been fine with the changes that have occurred in evolutionary theory based on additional evidence. Darwin seemed to be concerned with describing how things are, adapting his theories as he saw fit. Fortunately, the whole point of the book is to present Darwin’s own writings, and Korey succeeds admirably at doing that.
Darwin was a pleasure to read: so matter-of-fact and curious about the world around him. The excerpts from his autobiography were blunt and fascinating. I really enjoyed his descriptions of the natural world. His theories were always supported by interesting concrete examples.
I didn’t enjoy the commentator, Kenneth Korey, as much because his writing was much less clear than Darwin’s and because he seemed to be trying too hard to defend Darwin at every turn. It seems to me that Darwin would have been fine with the changes that have occurred in evolutionary theory based on additional evidence. Darwin seemed to be concerned with describing how things are, adapting his theories as he saw fit. Fortunately, the whole point of the book is to present Darwin’s own writings, and Korey succeeds admirably at doing that.
Displaying 1 of 1 review