The Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection- or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life [Mass Market Paperback]

Charles Darwin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0553214632 | ISBN-13: 978-0553214635 | Edition: Reissue

The publication of Darwin’s The Origin of Species in 1859 marked a dramatic turning point in scientific thought. The volume had taken Darwin more than twenty years to publish, in part because he envisioned the storm of controversy it was certain to unleash. Indeed, selling out its first edition on its first day, The Origin of Species revolutionized science, philosophy, and theology.

Darwin’s reasoned, documented arguments carefully advance his theory of natural selection and his assertion that species were not created all at once by a divine hand but started with a few simple forms that mutated and adapted over time. Whether commenting on his own poor health, discussing his experiments to test instinct in bees, or relating a conversation about a South American burrowing rodent, Darwin’s monumental achievement is surprisingly personal and delightfully readable. Its profound ideas remain controversial even today, making it the most influential book in the natural sciences ever written—an important work not just to its time but to the history of humankind.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's hard to talk about The Origin of Species without making statements that seem overwrought and fulsome. But it's true: this is indeed one of the most important and influential books ever written, and it is one of the very few groundbreaking works of science that is truly readable.

To a certain extent it suffers from the Hamlet problem--it's full of clichés! Or what are now clichés, but which Darwin was the first to pen. Natural selection, variation, the struggle for existence, survival of the fittest: it's all in here.

Darwin's friend and "bulldog" T.H. Huxley said upon reading the Origin, "How extremely stupid of me not to have thought of that." Alfred Russel Wallace had thought of the same theory of evolution Darwin did, but it was Darwin who gathered the mass of supporting evidence--on domestic animals and plants, on variability, on sexual selection, on dispersal--that swept most scientists before it. It's hardly necessary to mention that the book is still controversial: Darwin's remark in his conclusion that "Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history" is surely the pinnacle of British understatement. --Mary Ellen Curtin

From the Inside Flap

Perhaps the most readable and accessible of the great works of scientific imagination, The Origin of Species sold out on the day it was published in 1859. Theologians quickly labeled Charles Darwin the most dangerous man in England, and, as the Saturday Review noted, the uproar over the book quickly "passed beyond the bounds of the study and lecture-room into the drawing-room and the public street." Yet, after reading it, Darwin's friend and colleague T. H. Huxley had a different reaction: "How extremely stupid not to have thought of that."
Based largely on Darwin's experience as a naturalist while on a five-year voyage aboard H.M.S. Beagle, The Origin of Species set forth a theory of evolution and natural selection that challenged contemporary beliefs about divine providence and the immutability of species. A landmark contribution to philosophical and scientific thought, this edition also includes an introductory historical sketch and a glossary Darwin later added to the original text.

Charles Darwin grew up considered, by his own account, "a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard of intellect." A quirk of fate kept him from the career his father had deemed appropriate--that of a country parson--when a botanist recommended Darwin for an appointment as a naturalist aboard H.M.S. Beagle from 1831 to 1836. Darwin is also the author of the five-volume work Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle (1839) and The Descent of Man (1871).


From the Trade Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Classics; Reissue edition (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553214632
• ISBN-13: 978-0553214635
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.8 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #674,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy the first edition: buy Harvard or Penguin, June 5, 2000

By 

psychephile - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection- or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (Mass Market Paperback)

Because Darwin's "Origin" may be published by anyone, there are various editions available that seemingly differ only in price and introduction. In fact, however, among the various published versions of the "Origin," there is a difference vastly more important than price and intro -- that is, which *edition* is being published. Harvard and Penguin publish the first edition of the "Origin," whereas Bantam, Modern Library, and Prometheus Books publish the sixth edition.

For almost every purpose, the first edition is the only version worth reading. Aside from its overwhelmingly superior historical merit, the argument in the first edition is shorter, livelier, and more persuasive than the one in the sixth edition, where Darwin includes concessions to physicists such as Kelvin, which were ultimately proven unnecessary (as Kelvin's claims were shown to be in serious error). These erroneous concessions forced Darwin to mistakenly add several non-Darwinian arguments to his later editions.

So, if you want to read the book that changed biology forever, then read the "Origin" as it was originally written: buy the Harvard or Penguin copies.

93 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book that started the revolution of evolution, April 7, 2000

By 

Shawn Moses (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection- or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (Mass Market Paperback)

Believe it or not, this book was intended to be merely an introductory statement to a massive 20-volume treasise on evolution that Darwin had intended to write. However, he died before his Magnum Opus was completed. Although Darwin was not the first man to champion evolution, he was the first to create a convincing argument for it. This classic book thus records the beginning of a huge paradigm shift in biology. However, don't expect a flawless, up-to-date discussion - much has changed about evolutionary theory since Darwin's time. To fill in the holes, you might also want to read something more modern as a supplement. Richard Dawkin's "The Selfish Gene" would be an excellent choice. Outdated concepts aside, "On the Origin of Species" puts forward an ingeniously simple argument and backs it up with an enormous and varied set of examples. It is easy to see how this book was destined to shake the foundations of science.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Way more readable than you think ..., December 30, 2003

By 

J. N. Owings "Justin Owings" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection- or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (Mass Market Paperback)

People tend to look at me crazy when I tell them that I've read ORIGIN OF SPECIES. And really, I think we can all see where they are coming from. Nevertheless, being curious, I thought it might be interesting read the book that started all the fuss.

I was surprised to find how readable it really was. Think about this: what we are taught in high school biology is way more than Darwin knew when he wrote this book. Accordingly, the science described in this book is quite easy to understand for anyone who has previously taken a biology class.

Probably the most interesting thing about this book were the few times that Darwin threw in a little philosophical/theological side comment. I'll leave these juicy tidbits for you to find, but look for them as they add a little "kick" to an otherwise fairly "scientific" book. Though a bit lengthy, this accountant enjoyed ORIGIN OF SPECIES.

As a sidenote: I find the funniest thing about those "Jesus fish" eating the "Darwin fish" car decals is that the base idea is that the stronger fish wins- a.k.a. surival of the fittest. The ensuing contradiction of unwittingly using one of Darwin's base tenets to attack Darwinian evolution is priceless.