Customer Reviews

The Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection- or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life

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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.

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 Outdated concepts aside, "On the Origin of Species" puts forward an ingeniously simple argument and backs it up with an enormous and varied set of examples.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.

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.

In Origin of Species Darwin does an incredible job of documenting the mutability of species, of showing that changes can be caused not only by human breeding, but also by what you might call natural breeding, or "natural selection," as he calls it. His evidence was simply overwhelming.

The shortcoming of the book is that he gave no evidence for his main contention - that life is so mutable that a single-celled life form might evolve through many generations into, say, an elephant. The best he did on that count was to speculate. One of his odder speculations was that whales may be the descendants of animals like bears who swam through the water with their mouths open. In fact, I thought the evidence he presented could be reasonably interpreted as meaning that species have gene pools that allow a range of expression - for example, look at all the kinds of dogs there are.

That Darwin spent several chapters defending his theory against the lack of fossil evidence is also interesting because lack of fossil evidence is still being brought up as an objection. Clearly this objection has not been answered, or has been answered inadequately.

Having said all that, Origin of Species was the most persuasive argument for evolution I've heard. It is the focal point of the entire evolution-creation debate, and anybody interested in the topic should be familiar with it, regardless of which side of the issue they are on.

This is a book that you hear about your entire life, but don't know anyone who actually read it. Now, after reading it, I think it has been taken out of context on so many levels by so many agenda-driven factions.

In regards to the writing style- it is incredibly boring- and I don't mean that derogatory towards Darwin. He did a fine job writing- it was simply subject matter that could get a bit monotonous. The bookends are the most interesting, the middle is as mundane as paint drying, and if you can't invest in nearly 500 pages- the last chapter does a wonderful job at summation.

I was disappointed when I found out that the last sentence of this copy had been edited from the original. It makes me wonder how much more was edited...as well as books in general being edited from their original versions. One reason I prefer not to buy a kindle.

The most enjoyable thing about this book is that it made me question...in fact I wrote on nearly every page. There are many things that I don't think Darwin considered, but at least he had the humility to state his ignorance. He is simply offering a theory- one in which- I have no problem accepting in broad terms. There are so many things that we humans are ignorant of- and I don't think we're anywhere close to solving the mystery of life. But if physics, chemistry, and the like all work through "laws"- then I see no fault in believing that biology would work through "laws" as well.

Darwin wasn't making any political, social, or metaphysical conclusions. Unfortunately, lines have been drawn by warwagers wielding this book as their weapon of demagoguery on every side of the argument.

In 1859, Darwin unleashed "Origin of Species", a juggernaut which smashed down millenia-old ideas with its elegant explanation of the natural variation of species, and extensive documentation of examples to demonstrate the work's argument.

As a practising scientist myself, I was thoroughly impressed by Darwin's care in addressing his assumptions, considering alternative explanations, and providing a robust defense of his conclusions with his vast array of field data. "Origin of Species" is, as a purely scientific work, a beautiful example of how such a text should be written and defended.

Of course, Darwin's work is now dated. Modern theories of evolution and genetics have added a tremedous amount of detail to Darwin's work, which obviously are not included in this text. If you are interested in a more modern adaption of Darwin's theory, I suggest John Maynard-Smith's "Theory of Evolution". However, Darwin's work remains a lucid, powerful introduction to evolutionary theory, with a host of interesting examples of how his theory works in nature. For both its historical and scientific merits, "The Origin of Species" should be part of any literate person's library. Highly recommended.

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 yellow-covered reprint version done Nov 2008 at 495 pages is much easier on the eyes, blacker ink and bigger type. The one they sent me was from June 1999 at 416 pages and is smaller type and lighter harder-to-read ink. But the best I found, especially with this book, is librivox (public domain audiobook), because Darwin uses rather looong run-on sentences.

This is it -- the "Old Testament" of modern biology! Most people who accept evolution as the dominant paradigm should read this book, so that they know why. It is tough to get through, but incredibly rewarding. People who know Darwin's basic ideas don't really know how he arrived at them. So why not find out? Every page demonstrate's Darwin's brilliance, humility and insight. It is a must for the science buff's bookshelf! AOK!

If you like to research about origin of mankind or origin of life this is a must to have book. I bought this book to start studies about Teology & Antropology and I got amused with the clarity of purpose of Mr. Darwin. I think that it might had been very difficult to publish this book in a society very conservative in terms of religion and social life. Moreover, he also was a religious man and, to launch this book, he might had had a consciousness crisis or problems because he knew that this would shake all the ocidental way of life of that time.