The Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (Cambridge Library Collection - Life Sciences) [Paperback]

Charles Darwin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 20, 2009 | ISBN-10: 1108005489 | ISBN-13: 978-1108005487 | Edition: 6

This sixth edition of The Origin of Species was published in 1876. It is the last edition on which Darwin himself worked before his death in 1882, and offers a useful complement to the 2009 scholarly edition, edited by Jim Endersby and published by Cambridge University Press in Darwin's bicentennial year. The sixth edition contains a 'historical sketch' in which Darwin reviews the many works by eminent European and American scientists - beginning with Lamarck in 1801 - in which ideas of evolutionary species change and of natural selection were touched on but not developed. This edition, like all from the second onwards, contains the words 'by the Creator', controversially added to the famous last sentence in the book: 'There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one...'

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

This sixth edition of The Origin of Species was published in 1876. It is the last edition on which Darwin himself worked before his death in 1882, and complements the 2009 scholarly edition, edited by Jim Endersby and published by Cambridge University Press in Darwin's bicentennial year.

Product Details

• Paperback: 492 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 6 edition (July 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1108005489
• ISBN-13: 978-1108005487
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,200,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Need to know for cultural literacy, August 15, 2001

By 

bernie "webviator" (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (Cambridge Library Collection - Life Sciences) (Paperback)

This is a quick review of the book not a dissertation on Darwin or any other subject loosely related. At first I did not know what to expect. I already read " The Voyage of the Beagle: Charles Darwin's Journal of Researches". I figured the book would be similar. However I found "Origin" to be more complex and detailed.

Taking in account that recent pieces of knowledge were not available to Charles Darwin this book could have been written last week. Having to look from the outside without the knowledge of DNA or Plate Tectonics, he pretty much nailed how the environment and crossbreeding would have an effect on natural selection. Speaking of natural selection, I thought his was going to be some great insight to a new concept. All it means is that species are not being mucked around by man (artificial selection).

If you picked up Time magazine today you would find all the things that Charles said would be near impossible to find or do. Yet he predicted that it is doable in theory. With an imperfect geological record many things he was not able to find at the writing of this book have been found (according to the possibilities described in the book.)
The only draw back to the book was his constant apologizing. If he had more time and space he could prove this and that. Or it looks like this but who can say at this time. Or the same evidence can be interpreted 180 degrees different.

In the end it is worth reading and you will never look at life the same way again.

The Voyage of the Beagle: Charles Darwin's Journal of Researches (Penguin Classics)