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Summary: Read it before you talk about it!
Review: This book is one of the most talked about of all time, yet during my philosophical discussions on evolution, this is the typical line of conversation.
"Have you ever read "Origin of Species"?
"No."
"Do you KNOW anyone who'd read it?"...
"No."
This is one of the most significant books of the last 500 years, it effects practically everyone's idea about how the natural world works, and almost everyone's ideas of God and creation. For God's sake, read the book!!
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Summary: A book which has caused much dissent with modification
Review: Without a doubt "The Origins of Species" is one of the most seminal, controversial, and misunderstood books ever written. Charles Darwin is one of the giants of intellectual history, not because every single word he wrote was gospel truth, but because his main ideas have withstood the test of time and evidence. Natural Selection is a theory of incredible descriptive power. Few who criticize the theory have bothered reading this book or even attempted to understand what the theory means, which is a shame. This is a great book by a great and courageous man. Read your Darwin
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Summary: An esential read for any scientist.
Review: Darwin's "Origin of Species" is in fact an abstract of a 20 volume thesis containing the evidence gathered over many years which support the concept of evolution by natural selection. This way of describing the evolution of organisms on earth has by now become the standard and, in fact, one hardly ever thinks of evolution without automatically connecting it with Darwin's ideas. At first, upon commencing reading this small book, I continued to ask `where is the evidence for that' but on realising that he had gathered a large volume of data to support this theory I simply continued to read on. Its not either an easy read or that complicated. Darwin looks at evolution in a very comprehensive way: first, linking the main idea with the variation of animals under domestication, something he himself had extensively studied in the case of pidgeons; second, associating this with variation under nature and the struggle for existence; he then goes on to describe in detail natural selection and the laws of variation. He follows this like any good scientist by an analysis of what may be the theory's weaknesses, such as the scarcity in the geological record and the lack of organisms in a state of gradation. He then applies the ideas to instinct, hybridism and then discusses in great depth the imperfections of the geological record. He also considers how geographical distribution can alter the results of evolution and how the embryos of various animals have a resemblance to that of other animals and how they also appear to repeat previous evolutionary steps as they mature. Its too bad the 20 volume set was never published, even the incomplete version would have been better than only the abstract. Nonetheless it is well discussed and written as a comprehensive summary of the main thesis. At times the style can be repetitive and even dull but this is compensated for by fascinating little excerpts which are present throughout. This was, remarkably enough, my first reading of "The Origin of Species" and I do believe that every practicing scientist should read it as part of their education rather than accepting its tenets without question as is the wont. However rather than being a description of the true origin of species, it actually takes a change which occurs (by whatever means) and then describes the process the species undergoes from then on. Darwin never actually said anything about how new variations are formed, this was left for others to consider and eventually led to the modern Darwinian thesis including the idea of mutation caused by radiation, viruses or chemical agents. Much has also come to light over the last century such as the symbiosis of organisms producing the merger of cell and mitochondria seen in every cell today and similarly the recent evidence of gene swapping going on between bacteria and now also larger organisms, see "Lamarck's Signature" by Ted Steele. Since Darwin did also not explain form but rather the possibility of how form came about Brian Goodwin's Form and Transformation is a good place to start. It must also be remembered that in his time the thesis was new even if many others were working on similar ideas Darwin was the first, in conjunction with Wallace, to expand on natural selection and obtain strong evidence for it. An essential read for any scientist.
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Summary: talkin' to a dead man
Review: "Step back from the tree Charles"
...he can't - he's dead.
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Summary: ONE OF THE GREAT WORKS
Review: "Origin of Species" differs from most other scientific books or original articles in that it can be understood in its original form by an average person. When Newton wrote his Principia, only a handful of people could understand it. It had math and it was written in Latin. But Darwin's method is the same as Newton's: both developed a theory which "explained" observation. Neither gave nor claimed to give the final word. Neither is a discussion of ethics, politics, religion. business, etc. It was known to everyone that variation in life existed with some sets of living organisms being more akin to one another than to other sets. Some sub-sets within a given set of organisms were able to interbreed with one another, but not with other members of the set. Darwin attempted to explain how this happened. Science is never "true" in the sense that
religion is "true". Science does not depend upon the authority of individues.
The idea that the Pope may pronounce something true and it becomes "true" is a different definition of the word "true" than Darwin or Newton or any other scientist saying someing is true--on the one hand the "truth" exists because of who made the statement, but on the (scientific) hand, the one making the statement is not relevant.
Some reviewers have stated that "Origin of Species" is hard to read. I suppose that is true compared to a novel, but compared to most scientific literature it is a piece of cake. It is about as hard to read as "The Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith.
Darwin's work, like all science, is based upon the concept that nature is consistent over time. To throw out Origin of Species
based upon the idea that God creates inconsistencies now and again to effect this purpose or that mekes no more sense than throwing out Newton, Einstein etc and physics and chemistry as well as biology. No amount of evidence to the contrary convinces those who insist upon God's intervention because it cannot be absolutely disproved. Such views are OK, but they are not science and must not be introduced into science classes.
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Summary: The most important Biology book of all times!!!
Review: Every biologist (professional or amateur), every lover of the nature, every scientist have to read this book. "Origin of the species" opened the doors for a new era of scientific thought and dramatically shaped the development of all life sciences. It correctly describes, for the very first time, a most fundamental truth of the natural world, one which had eluded philosophers and scientists for millenia.
Beautiful, just beautiful. An intellectual triumph for mankind. Thank you, Charles!
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Summary: Sad but funny book.
Review: Step back from the tree Charles... Do you see the other one beside it? Another step back... More trees? Keep going... Keep going... See the forest? Wow, everything seems to have evolved from a single source you say? Sorry Charles, close but your wrong again. Everything was "designed" and "created" by a single source.
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Summary: A must read the original book has some of the best arguments
Review: In this wonderfully readable text Darwin introduces the ideas that have changed biology.
The two strongest points of the book are: its readability, which it really is, it's arguments against repeated creationism, which are among the best and clearest I have read.
The structure of the arguments for his theory which slowly unfolds for the eyes of the reader makes for a convincing and readable story. Of course the book being 150 years old there are some shortcomings, especially focussed around Darwin's lack of knowledge of the mechanisms invoklved in inheritance (genes). Quoting and treating of scientific references might also appear oldfashioned.
In spite of thse shortcomings the impact of this book has been so immense that I would advice everyone to read it, that is why it got the 5 stars as well. Without reading it neither supporters nor opponents of his theories can fairly debate about its implicaitons
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Summary: Become enlightened or your money back!
Review: How do you rate what has become the bible for all enlightened persons? We who grasp the singular genius of Darwin can excuse the outdated information in these hallowed scriptures while still praising his inerrant conclusion. That's because one can't argue with his thought process. To a scientific naturalist the revelation is manifest: nature created everything itself! Only those species that were created by nature with the capacity to survive actually survived and the others went extinct! If you are not convinced by such pure logic then you don't understand science. Now that Darwin has established that natural causes is the only possible explanation for all existance within a materialistic framework, science can successfully interpret the overwhelming evidence.
Unlike other societies before us, we are enlightened and incapable of believing in just another creation myth. They believed dogmatically without observation. We on the other hand are the first people in history to notice the variations and similarities in animals and plants within different habitats. We monopolize words like "empirical" and "scientific" to avoid confusing our objective understanding of the universe with mind-controlling dogma.
Indeed, Origins of the Species established the first and most fundamental scientific principle used by all real scientists to help lay people recognize dogma from true science. Any and all ideas that permit even the faintest thiestic causality are absolutely dogmatic and can never ever be true.
Sure Darwin politically hedged his bet with the possibility of a "creator" starting it all, but that was only because the poor man lived in an age of victorian religous repression. Sure, he argued for racial inequality, but that was in another book, and only because he lived in an age of British imperialism. Other then these controversies, his view of natural history was entirely based on scientific observation, and was in no way influenced by the philosophical climate of 19th century Europe.
I picked this edition to review because it includes new modern evidence, not found in the original publication, that macroevolution is a fact: the cover art. Just as Darwin predicted, visual confirmation of descent with modification has been discovered in the paper strata of younger textbooks.
Although Origin of the Species was written over 150 years ago, Darwin's magnus opus of materialism has redefined not only biology, but economics, politics, race and gender relations, and even religion. Of course we should never make the common mistake that this is a philosophy book. As Darwin himself would say " ...from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved."
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Summary: The most important book of biological science.
Review: 'The Origin of Species' by Charles Darwin is the most important book of biological science. Even though the book may be dead in detail, it is basically the "big bang" of evolutionary thought. If one is a student of Biology, this is the book they want to read in order to develop true scientific thought.
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