Charles Robert Darwinwas born in 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. At Cambridge University he formed a friendship with J. S. Henslow, a professor of botany, and that association, along with his enthusiasm for collecting beetles, led to "a burning zeal," as he wrote in hisAutobiography, for the natural sciences. A voyage to the Southern Hemisphere on the H.M.S.Beaglebetween 1831 and 1836 would lay the foundation forThe Origin of Species, publishedin 1859. His other works includeThe Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex(1871) andRecollections of My Mind and Character, also titledAutobiography(1887). Charles Darwin'sDiary of the Voyage of the H.M.S. Beaglewas published posthumously in 1933.
“Next to the Bible no work has been quite as influential, in
virtually every aspect of human thought, as The Origin of
Species.”—Ashley Montagu
“Darwin was one of history’s towering geniuses and ranks with the
greatest heroes of man’s intellectual progress.”—George Gaylord
Simpson in The Meaning of Evolution
“It is clear that here is one of the most important contributions
ever made to philosophic science; and it is at least behooving on
scientists, in the light of the accumulation of evidence which the
author has summoned in support of his theory, to reconsider the
grounds on which their present doctrine of the origin of species is
based.”—The New York Times
“Amazingly, 150 years after the publication of The Origin of
Species, Darwin's seminal work on the theory of evolution remains
the authoritative tract on the subject.”—Library Journal
Originally published in 1859, Darwin's revolutionary idea is revisited in this spirited and profoundly enthralling reading by Professor Richard Dawkins, who in reading Darwin's material aloud manages to rediscover old ideas and unearth some dramatic subtleties in his prose. Dawkins offers a well-pronounced, pitch-perfect delivery and smartly never attempts to turn the reading into a performance from Darwin's point of view. Instead, Dawkins delivers the material from his own context as a modern-day interpreter of the classical work. Dawkins also splendidly adapts this abridgment, leaving out sections of Darwin's original theories that have been discredited by modern science. Dawkins says he believes his alterations are what Darwin himself would have wished for the recording, and the final result is an absolutely astounding glimpse into life as we know it. (Aug.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
"Next to the Bible no work has been quite as influential, in
virtually every aspect of human thought, as The Origin of
Species."-Ashley Montagu
"Darwin was one of history's towering geniuses and ranks with the
greatest heroes of man's intellectual progress."-George Gaylord
Simpson in The Meaning of Evolution
"It is clear that here is one of the most important
contributions ever made to philosophic science; and it is at least
behooving on scientists, in the light of the accumulation of
evidence which the author has summoned in support of his theory, to
reconsider the grounds on which their present doctrine of the
origin of species is based."-The New York Times
"Amazingly, 150 years after the publication of The
Origin of Species, Darwin's seminal work on the theory of
evolution remains the authoritative tract on the
subject."-Library Journal
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