128 of 130 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gorgeous edition of the classic text, crammed with goodies, February 17, 2009
This review is from: On the Origin of Species: The Illustrated Edition (Hardcover)
This edition of "On the Origin of Species" is invaluable to anyone who has been suffering without Darwin's most important work, or getting by with only a stripped-down version. The text is the first edition of the six editions Darwin oversaw in his lifetime. It's the version scientists now regard as the most powerful and passionate statement of Darwin's views. But besides the full (unabridged) "Origin," this large-format book is replete with other materials. The word "sumptuous" comes to mind. There are hundreds of amazing illustrations, maps and diagrams, many in full color. Also included are scores of substantial excerpts from other works by Darwin and correspondence between him and his contemporaries. This makes the book a treasure to have, because it is so incredibly rich in contextual materials.
For instance, pictures of T.H. Huxley are included along with Huxley's letter to Darwin, where Huxley asserted his (not altogether unconditional) support for Darwin's argument and added that he was sharpening his claws and beak in readiness - that is, to help defend Darwin from his opponents. I was also delighted with the many beautiful photographs taken in the Galapagos Islands and of life forms found there, to say nothing of the pictures of Darwin, his family, colleagues and adversaries that are interspersed throughout the book, and Darwin's own drawings, the pictures of Darwin's home near Downe, his desk, models and a detailed diagram of the H.M.S. Beagle, and so on. There is also a chronology of Darwin's life to 1864. Reading this, you are getting far more than one book: the many excerpts from Darwin's earlier and later writings, and all the illustrations and other materials, provide considerable historical context for the "Origin," its development and reception, making this almost certainly the definitive edition.
If you have never read Darwin's masterpiece, this book is a first-class reason to do so. His prose is elegant - even, at times, eloquent. The argument unfolds logically and clearly. Darwin was an utterly unpretentious English gentleman, after all, who lived during the Victorian era; he was, and remains, a highly agreeable companion. (If you enjoy travel literature, Darwin's earlier "Voyage of the Beagle" is also highly readable and fascinating. It sold well in his lifetime and reads almost like an adventure story. Many excerpts from "Voyage" appear in the book under review. They may tempt you to read the other book.) "On the Origin of Species" was written to be read by anyone - it is not merely for scientists or experts. Small wonder that the first edition sold out the same day it was released.
One of the most striking things about the "Origin" is how careful, even cautious, Darwin is in drawing inferences from the piles of data he had before him. (In fact, he devoted an entire chapter to describing potential objections to his own arguments. That takes candor to a very high level. Yet creationists often just read that chapter in order to find objections to evolution, as if Darwin had not already thought the matter through, and as if modern science had not already resolved those objections, since Darwin so thoughtfully and disarmingly enumerated them.) Darwin's argument thus has more force than it would if he made claims that the data did not so clearly support. Darwin's great virtue as a scientist is that he did not let his own beliefs prejudice his investigations: he let the evidence speak plainly for itself. He was humble, painstaking and forthright.
Since I originally prepared this review, another superb edition of "On the Origin of Species" has been published by Harvard's Belknap Press, which provides excellent and substantial annotations to a facsimile of the original 1859 text, on the same pages as the text itself. That is a handsome volume which is immensely helpful because the annotations (prepared by James T. Costa, a biologist himself) explain so much. Darwin's writing is precise and clear but lay readers often have questions - or would, if we knew what to ask - that are answered in the annotations. Professor Costa updates much of what is being said in the text with current scientific knowledge, explains why Darwin is saying what he is saying, and generally offers valuable insights. The result is to make Darwin's book even more accessible to the general reader. Regrettably, that volume does not have all the rich contextual materials, illustrations and selections from other works that distinguish the edition under review here. Still, if your objective is to read Darwin's seminal work and comprehend it, Costa's is doubtless as good a book as there is. Thus, while it would be ideal if both of these books could be combined, we should be vastly grateful that two such outstanding editions of this important work became available at reasonable cost during the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of "On the Origin of Species." You can take your pick, or if you really love Darwin and science, get both (as I did).
While I recommend reading "on the Origin of Species" in any edition, this is a lavish and eminently worthwhile volume, which I have added to the several editions I already own.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book that celebrates the 150TH anniversary of Charles Darwin's scientific masterpiece!!, March 21, 2009
This review is from: On the Origin of Species: The Illustrated Edition (Hardcover)
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"When on board...[Her Majesty's Ship] 'Beagle,' as naturalist, I was struck with certain facts in the distribution of the inhabitants [that is, plants and animals] of South America, and the geologic relations of the present to past inhabitants of that continent. These facts seemed to me to throw some light on the origin of species--that mystery of mysteries, as it has been called by one of our greatest philosophers."
The above are the first two sentences that begin what many describe as a seminal work in scientific literature and a landmark work in evolutionary biology. This book (whose full title is "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life") was written by Charles Darwin (1809 to 1882) and this first edition was published in November 1859. This illustrated edition was edited by David Quammen, an author and recognized writer.
But you'll find more (much more!!) between the covers of this illustated edition than just the original text of Darwin's great book. In it are written excerpts from the following books:
(1) "The Voyage of the Beagle"
(2) "The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin"
(3) "The Autobiography of Charles Darwin"
From these major sources and other sources are included, as well, images of some of the places Darwin visited, some of the creatures he saw, and the ship itself. Also included is a gallery of reproductions of photographs, oil portraits, oil woodcuts, sketches, cartoons, coloured lithographs from the book "The Zoology of the Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle," etc. (Thus, when they say this is "The Illustrated Edition," they're not kidding!!)
There is also a chronology that tracks Darwin's life as well as images or pictures related to him as a man and to concepts of his great work. Those major persons for and against Darwin's ideas are also shown.
Editor Quammen describes the "On the Origin of Species" text (which I'll refer as the 1859 TEXT):
"[It] wasn't written for experts. It was written for everybody who reads, thinks, and wonders. The prose is sometimes laborious and often elegant; the details are fascinating, the logic is lucid and firm; and the voice...is the voice of an affable English gentleman."
This book can be read in one of two ways:
(1) You can read the book from start to finish. As you come to the written excerpts, sketches, photos, etc., you can divert your attention from reading the 1859 TEXT, read or look over these, and then continue reading the 1859 TEXT.
(2) You can read and look over all the written excerpts, sketches, photos, etc. first. Then go back to the beginning and read the 1859 TEXT.
Personally, I chose method (2). I found that when I did this that I learned much about Charles Darwin, the man and scientist. I found that after I had learned something about Darwin himself, that my interest in his 1859 TEXT was piqued and I wanted to read it since, for some reason, it didn't seem so intimidating.
When reading the 1859 TEXT, you may find the prose difficult to read at first. I found that as I kept reading, I got used to the prose style, and the reading actually got easier. Also, it seems to me that Darwin has bent over backwards to make his 1859 TEXT easy to understand because he provides brief summaries at the beginning of each chapter and the last chapter is actually a summary.
Here are the chapter titles for the 1859 TEXT (which are the same for this illustrated book):
(1) Variation under domestication
(2) Variation under nature
(3) Struggle for existence
(4) Natural selection
(5) Laws of variation
(6) Difficulties [with my] theory
(7) Instinct
(8) Hybridism
(9) On the imperfection of the geological record
(10) On the geological succession of organic beings
(11) Geographical distribution
(12) Geological distribution [continued]
(13) Mutual affinities of organic beings: morphology: embryology: rudimentary organs
(14) Recapitulation and conclusion
There is a fascinating appendix to this illustrated edition entitled "An historical sketch of the progress of opinion on 'On The Origin of Species.'" This appendix was added as a foreword to the third edition of "On the Origin of Species," published in 1861. (Note that "On the Origin of Species" had six editions that were published during Darwin's lifetime.)
Finally, after the appendix, there is a helpful glossary to aid in ever greater comprehension of the 1859 TEXT. (Note that Darwin did not include a glossary in his original 1859 publication.)
In conclusion, with all the extras included to compliment Charles Darwin's masterpiece of observation and deduction, this book is truly a pleasure to read. I leave you with Darwin's final words:
"There is grandeur in this view of life [that is, grandeur in the laws of nature], with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms [of life] or into one [form of life]; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."
(illustrated edition first published 2008; introduction (to this book by David Quammen); introduction (to "On the Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin); 14 chapters; main narrative 515 pages; appendix; glossary; picture credits; index)
<<Stephen Pletko, London, Ontario, Canada>>
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