a book
The Origin of Species: 150th Anniversary Edition
Charles Darwin · 2004 · 496 pages
Few other books have created such a lasting storm of controversy as The Origin of Species. Darwin’s theory that species derive from other species by a gradual evolutionary process and that the average level of each species is heightened by the “survival of the fittest” stirred up popular debate to fever pitch. Its acceptance revolutionized the course of science.
As Sir Julian Huxley, the noted biologist, points out in his illuminating introduction, the importance of Darwin’s contribution to modern scientific knowledge is almost impossible to evaluate: “a truly great book, one which can still be read with profit by professional biologist.”
Includes an Introduction by Sir Julian Huxley
recommended by 9 people
sourced from public statements
Neil Degrasse Tyson
“On the Origin of Species (Darwin), to learn of our kinship with all other life on Earth.”↗
Jerry Coyne
“The reason why I chose The Origin is because of all the books that have ever been written on science that are accessible to the layperson, this is the most important. It’s the one book you have to have read if you want to be considered an educated person.”↗
Viggo Mortensen
“There is nothing more important than the natural world we live in, and we are bound to affect it positively or negatively by virtue of our relatively brief individual and collective presence. Darwin’s visionary study of the evolution of living beings on our planet is a crucial guide to our understanding of why we are here and what we might to do to live in harmony with our environment.”↗
Steve Stewart-Williams
“On this day in 1859, Charles Darwin published his magnum opus, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Arguably the most important science book ever written, The Origin radically transformed our view of ourselves and our place in nature.”↗
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