The Portable Darwin (Portable Library) [Mass Market Paperback]

Charles Darwin (Author), Duncan M. Porter (Editor), Peter Graham (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0140151095 | ISBN-13: 978-0140151091 | Publication Date: January 1, 1995

Charles Darwin's notes from his voyage on the "Beagle" brought about the reinvention of the natural sciences and irrevocably altered the way humanity saw itself. This anthology encapsulates the grand arc of Darwin's thoughts on the origin of species, natural history, "savage" man and child psychology. This book contains five chapters on "The Origin of Species", along with major extracts from Darwin's preceding works, scientific papers, travel writings, letters and a family memorial.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140151095
• ISBN-13: 978-0140151091
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 1.3 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #705,526 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Selection, July 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Portable Darwin (Portable Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is very good especially if you haven't read very much about Darwin and are not familiar with his works. The selections are good representations of his overall work and the editor's notes are helpful. An index would be nice.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not up to the usual "Portable" standard, July 8, 2008

By 

Kerry Walters (Lewisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Portable Darwin (Portable Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

Darwin was a voluminous, almost compulsive author. He preserved nearly all the unpublished notes, records, and manuscripts he ever scribbled. Beginning in 1839, a steady stream of published essays, monographs, and books flowed from his Kentish home, Down House. In addition, he wrote over 13,000 preserved letters.

Culling through all of this stuff to put together a Portable Darwin must've been a formidable task. So I mean no disrespect when I say that the editors of this volume could've selected more judiciously. Volumes in the Portable readers are intended, I presume, to introduce the general public to representative selections from designated authors. So in the Portable Darwin, editors Porter and Graham have done well to provide generous selections from the Beagle Journals, Origin, and Descent of Man.

But does the average reader really need to be familiar with Darwin's monographs on the effects of salt water on seeds or the formation of vegetable mold by worms? Wouldn't the reader new to Darwin have been better served, for example, by some of the fascinating selections from his letters in which he writes about his religious and moral beliefs? Granted, we have a taste or two of those thoughts buried in the larger selections offered in the Portable, and one short letter on the morality of vivisection. But in relation to all the other selections--including (yawn) studies of coral reef formations--its all too little.

Finally, in a volume of this kind, an index really is indispensible.