On Natural Selection

by Charles Darwin

Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization, and helped make us who we are.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Classics, Biology, Philosophy, History, Evolution

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1859

About the author

Charles Robert Darwin of Britain revolutionized the study of biology with his theory, based on natural selection; his most famous works include On the Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871).

Chiefly Asa Gray of America advocated his theories.

Works of Jacques Martin Barzun include Darwin, Marx, Wagner (1941).

Charles Robert Darwin, an eminent English collector and geologist, proposed and provided scientific evidence of common ancestors for all life over time through the process that he called. The scientific community and the public in his lifetime accepted the facts that occur and then in the 1930s widely came to see the primary explanation of the process that now forms modernity. In modified form, the foundational scientific discovery of Darwin provides a unifying logical explanation for the diversity of life.

Darwin developed his interest in history and medicine at Edinburgh University and then theology at Cambridge. His five-year voyage on the Beagle established him as a geologist, whose observations and supported uniformitarian ideas of Charles Lyell, and publication of his journal made him as a popular author. Darwin collected wildlife and fossils on the voyage, but their geographical distribution puzzled him, who investigated the transmutation and conceived idea in 1838. He discussed his ideas but needed time for extensive research despite priority of geology. He wrote in 1858, when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay, which described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication.

His book of 1859 commonly established the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. He examined human sexuality in Selection in Relation to Sex , and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals followed. A series of books published his research on plants, and he finally examined effect of earthworms on soil.

A state funeral recognized Darwin in recognition of preeminence and only four other non-royal personages of the United Kingdom of the 19th century; people buried his body in Westminster abbey, close to those of John Herschel and Isaac Newton.

Her fathered Francis Darwin, astronomer George Darwin, and politician, economist and eugenicist Leonard Darwin.

(Arabic: تشارلز داروين)

Reviews

[Nickolas B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ο Δαρβίνος ήταν, είναι και θα είναι ο ορισμός του πραγματικού επιστήμονα. Είναι ο υποψιασμένος ερευνητής, ο αιρετικός σκεπτικιστής και ο παρατηρητής που εστιάζει στην κάθε λεπτομέρεια.
Η φυσική επιλογή είναι η βάση της δημιουργίας σε αυτόν τον πλανήτη και νομίζω αξίζει σε κάθε αναγνώστη να ρίξει μια ματιά στο συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο. Δεν είναι τυχαίο που οι θεωρίες και οι σκέψεις του μεγάλου Άγγλου φυσιοδίφη έπαιξαν καθοριστικό ρόλο στην εξέλιξη διαφόρων επιστημών και επίσης δεν είναι τυχαίο πόσες αντιδράσεις προκάλεσαν και συνεχίζουν να προκαλούν.
Σε ένα κόσμο που τα πάντα μπορούσαν να εξηγηθούν με τον εύκολο μεταφυσικό τρόπο και με θεωρίες ασύνδετες, ο Δαρβίνος διάλεξε το δύσβατο μονοπάτι της έρευνας και της παρατήρησης. Μέσα από αυτό το μονοπάτι ολοκλήρωσε τις ιδέες του τις οποίες μας άφησε παρακαταθήκη για να μπορούμε σήμερα να ισχυριζόμαστε ότι είμαστε ένα βήμα πιο κοντά στο μυστικό της ζωής και της δημιουργίας. Ο Δαρβίνος χτύπησε το δόγματα, θρησκευτικά και πάσης φύσεως, στο αδύνατο σημείο τους.
Η γλώσσα γενικώς που χρησιμοποιεί ο συγγραφέας είναι κατανοητή αν και δεν λείπουν ορολογίες και κάποιες ειδικές αναφορές. Παρ' όλα αυτά εύκολα κανείς μπαίνει στο νόημα χωρίς να είναι εξελικτικός βιολόγος ή γενετιστής. Προς το τέλος οι ειδικές αναφορές γίνονται όλο και πιο συχνές και ίσως κουράσουν αλλά προσωπικά εγώ τις βρήκα σαν αφορμή για περαιτέρω αναζητήσεις.
Προσεγμένη έκδοση από ΠΑΤΑΚΗ. Πολύ καλή μετάφραση και εξαιρετική εικονογράφηση.
5/5

[Mohamed Samy · Rating 2 out of 5]

اكثر من ثلاث شهور وانا بتفرج على فيديوهات وافلام وثائقية لشرح نظرية التطور ولنقدها والرد على النقد والرد على رد النقد..

دماغى بقى كله برمائيات وحيوانات وسلف مشترك وبعد كل المشاهدات وقراءات بسيطة قلت اقرأ النظرية نفسها ولقيت نسخة مختصرة من كتاب اصل الانواع طبعة درا الكرمة والنسخة تختص بأهم فروض النظرية وهو بمثابة الاله الخالق بالنسبة للتطوريين وهو الانتخاب الطبيعى.

طيب، اولا انا مسلم وقبل ذلك مؤمن ايمان كامل بأن الكون وما فيه متقن الصنع ومضبوط ضبطا دقيقا وبالتالى عندى عقيدة راسخة بأن هناك خالق ابدع هذا الكون.

ثانيا وبناء على اولا فانا متأكد ان كل المؤمنون بنظرية التطور يريدون بكل قوة اثبات نظرية التطور عبر اكثر من مائة سنة ،فقط لاثبات ان الحياة بتنوعاتها فى الكائن الحى ممكن تنشأ بالتطور ولا حاجة لارادة صانع او خالق والمشكلة ان نظرية التطور تبدأ فى الحيز الزمنى من بعد نشأة الكون ونشأة الكائن الحى الاولى المفترض.

نيجى بقى لنظرية التطور بناء على استنتاجات داروين وفروضه:
داروين لم يات بجديد فى المشاهدات ولا حتى فى قانون التناحر وحتى الانتخاب الطبيعى والعالم" لامارك" من قبله قد اثار معظم النقاط.

بناء على مافهمته من اصل الانواع لداروين ان الكائنات الحية تتناحر من اجل البقاء وتريد الافتراس او الهروب من الافتراس وهذا محير بالنسبة لى لماذا لا تسلك الكائنات كلها مسلك واحد ولكن رد داروين طبعا حسب البيئة والتناحر هى التى ستكسب الكائن صفات جديدة تساعد على تكيفه مع البيئة المحيطة ويأتى دور الانتخاب الطبيعى فى اختيار وتثبيت الصفات الاصلح لبقاء نوع معين وبالتالى تكاثره وانتشاره وهكذا يكتسب صفات جديدة ويتكاثر وتنتقل الصفات لنسله الجديد ،طبعا بعد علم الوراثة تم التاكيد على ان الصفات المكتسبة لا تورث وما ظل يعتقدانه لامارك وداروين من سخف فرضية عنق الزرافة الذى اخذ يطول ويطول بناءا على قلة الحشائش والعشب فى اسفل الارض فاكتسبت الزرافة طول عنقها للاكل من اعالى الاشجار وبالطبع ضاربا بقوة قلب الزرافة والصمامات الموجودة ف الرقبة والتى تعمل عند امالة الزرافة رقبتها لاسفل لشرب المياه مما يمنع انفجار الدماغ تحت الضخ القوى للدم والذى يساعد فيه عضلة القلب الضخمة التى تضخ للزرافة دما على بعد ثلاثة امتار للدماغ الخاصة بالزرافة
وبالتالى وفى كثير من استنتاجات داروين المفروض انها دحضت تماما الا ان هناك ال
neo-darwinian evolution
وهى الداروينية الجديدة التى حاولت بعد اكتشاف الحمض النووى وتشفيره وكونه دقيقا جدا ف البنية ومن المستحيل تكونه هكذا من تطور ،ظهر مفهوم التطور الجديد وهو الطفرات العشوائية وانا بأكد لاى حد بيحاول يوفق بين ايمانه بالخلق والتطور بأن التطور الحالى هو طفرات عشوائية بالصدفة والطبيعة العمياء ساعدت على بقاء نوع معين دون سواه بناء على نوع الطفرة اذا كانت ضارة او مفيدة وكيفية الاستفادة من هذه الطفرة وبالتالى انا مش هتكلم عن التطور الجديد انا بتكلم على داروين ومفهومه للنشوء والارتقاء
من خلال القراءة فى معظم فصول الكتاب بشوف الاستدلال الدائرى كتير اللى هو معناه مثلا بما ان مفيش خالق وبما ان فى كائن شبه كائن يبقى الكائنات تطورت من اخرى او سلف مشترك وكثير جدا تجد كلمات مثل محتمل وجائز ان نقول وممكن وافتراضا وحتى داروين نفسه فى فصل مشكلات النظرية وجد اسئلة غامضة ليس لها اجابات وكل استنتاجاته استنتاجات من الممكن ان تؤول الى اخرى ومثال ده بالنسبالى السمك الطائر اللى بيهرب من اعدائه فى البحر وانه بيقول بالنص من الجائز لنا ان نقول بان نتج ليه شيئ اشبه بالجناح عشان يهرب من اعدائه مع ان ممكن اقول انه جائز خلق هكذا وليه كائنات بحرية اخرى بتخرج ما يشبه الكهربا او زى الحبار عشان تدافع عن نفسها لماذا لم تسلك الكائنات البحرية الصغيرة نفس السلوك طالما هى غريزة وطبعا اسئلتى دى على حد فهمى.
الاعضاء المعقدة زى العين واجهزة كتير بالنسبالى زى الجهاز الهضمى والتناسلى والتنفسى يعنى التناسلى مثلا او الشهوة الجنسية والميل الجنسى ده من اين بدأ وكيف ظهر بناء على خطوات بسيطة متراكمة حتى تصل للكمال وبالمناسبة ظهر فترة ابحاث ان العين فى شكلها الحالى بها عيوب وده مش افضل تصميم ولكن الابحاث الاحدث اثبتت ان العين بتركيبها وترتيب اجزاءها هو أفضل تركيب للعين وتانى مش معنى ان عيون الكائنات الحية مختلفة وهناك عيون كثيرة بالنسبة لعين الانسان ان الكائنات تطورت من سلف مشترك
ومشكلة الجنس اللى هو ذكر وانثى قرات تفسيرات لنظرية التطور الحديثة ومقتنعتش ولا حسيت انها منطقية ومحدش يقولى علم لانى مقرأتش دليل مادى واحد على ظهور الجنس سواء ذكر او انثى وفى اى لحظة بالظبط .
السؤال اخيرا لماذا يقع عبء الاثبات على من ينكر التطور اذا كان التطور نفسه لم يثبت شيء
نظرية التطور الحديثة بتضرب بالفطرة والعقل والبديهة والحدس فى ان الكائنات الحية متقنة الصنع وبيقولو ده اتقان وهمى مش حقيقى ده نتيجة تراكمات الصدفة فقط وطبعا عبء الاثبات يقع على من ينكر كل هذا بانه يأتى بدلائل داحضة
نظرية التطور مجهود جبار من داروين بصراحة فى زمنه لكن تبقى حتى الان نظرية غير مكتملة الاركان والدلائل يعنى فى قطع بازل ناقصة فيها كتير وللاسف القطع دى ممكن لما تركب تهدم النظرية تماما

فى سلسلة اسمها رحلة اليقين على اليوتيوب للدكتور اياد قنيبى سلسلة جميلة وعلمية فيها نقد لنظرية التطور

طبعا قراءاتى هتكون اكثر ف الموضوع وانا مرتب مجموعة كتب ابدأ بيها مع الاستمرار فى الفيديوهات الكثيرة على اليوتيوب

انا مش مقتنع بالتطور ومش قادر اقتنع ومش بس لانى مؤمن او مسلم لا انا بصراحة مش لاقى ادلة مادية ملموسة تثبت صحة النظرية كلها استنتاجات وافتراضات زى بالظبط فكرة الاحفورة الحية اللى هو كائن انت شايفه فيه شبه من كائنات مختلفة فتخليه دليل على التطور مع انى ممكن بدليلك ده ااقول انه مخلوق هكذا.

اسئلة مطروحة ومش لاقى ليها اجابة
ظهور الثدييات وظهور غدد افراز الحليب المغذى لماذا ظهرت ومتى وكيف لطفرة عشوائية ان تخلق شيء هكذا او لو بوجهة نظر داروين صفة مكتسبة من ماذا اكتسبت ولماذا؟!؟

من اين اتت الغريزة وكيف ظهرت ؟من الذى برمج الكائنات على ما تقوم به لماذا كانت غريزة النحل بناء بيوته على اشكال مسدسة وكيف للعسل ان يظهر

سؤال محير بالنسبالى موضوع غريزة البقاء يعنى هل كل الكائنات الحية تتعارك من اجل بقاءها فقط طيب ومن اين جاءت تضحية الحيوانات لماذا لا يلتهم التمساح صغاره من زرع عاطفة الامومة ف الكائنات الحية من جعل عاملات النحل تقوم بلدغ الدخلاء رغم علمها بانها ستموت طبعا بيردوا رد عجيب جدا وهو رد الجينة الانانية اللى تحدث عنها امبراطور الملحدين ريتشارد داوكينز وان الجين الانانى بيجعل الكائن الحى عايز يحمى اولاده عشان يضمن انتقاله للنسل القادم وبعد ما بيكمل مهمته الكائن بيموت وده بالمناسبة طرحه احمد الغندور فى برنامج الدحيح اللى بيقول انه بيبسط العلوم!! اى علوم وهو الجين الانانى علم؟!؟! و لو فرضنا انه حقيقة مين اللى حرك الجين وكأننا الات والجينات بتحركنا ده على اساس الجينات كائنات عاقلة وبتتحكم فينا!!!

طبعا لا داعى للتذكير بكلام ريتشارد داوكينز عن ان داروين ازاح الله من الاحياء وبقى قليلا فى الفيزياء وستيفن هوكنج يسدد ضربته الآن
يعنى الفلسفة الالحادية تريد ان تمحى الخالق من الوجود يعنى الكون نشأ بالصدفة او العدم والكائنات نشأت بالصدفة ووجود الانسان صدفة لا اكثر اتى بالطفرات العشوائية.

فى آيات فى القرآن قوية جدا وموجهة استنكارا للمشركين:

يقول تعالى : ( أم خلقوا من غير شيءٍ أم هم الخالقون – أم خلقوا السماوات والأرض بل لا يوقنون ) [ الطور : 35-36 ] .

هَٰذَا خَلْقُ اللَّهِ فَأَرُونِي مَاذَا خَلَقَ الَّذِينَ مِن دُونِهِ ۚ بَلِ الظَّالِمُونَ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ (11) سورة لقمان

نهاية هناك امور فى الكيمياء الحيوية والاحياء بالتأكيد صعبة عليا انى اقرأ فيها كلها لكن انا بحاول افهم واقيس بالمنطق طالما العلم التجريبى المادى مأثبتش شيء وحتى الآن مش شايف دليل كافى عشان اقول لنفسى ان الكائنات الحية جمعيها اتت من كائن بدائى او خلية حية وكما نشأت بالصدفة من الجماد وانفصلت الكائنات بالانتخاب الطبيعى الى ان اتيت انا كانسان وسألت كيف بدأ الخلق واعمل مناظرات وادب وفن وحضارات واخترع اديان من منطلق غريزة البقاء !!!!!!

النجمتان لقانون التناحر والابحاث وجرأة الطرح

[Julian Worker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who would have thought that the number of cats in a particular area would impact Red Clover density?

He who believes in the struggle for existence and in the principle of natural selection , will acknowledge that every organic being is constantly endeavouring to increase in numbers, and that if any one being vary ever so little, either in habits or structure, and thus gain an advantage over some other inhabitant of the country, it will seize on the place of that inhabitant, however different it may be from its own place.

There are geese and frigate-birds with webbed feet either living on the dry land or most rarely alighting on the water, there are long-toed corncrakes living in meadows instead of in swamps; there are woodpeckers where not a tree grows, there are diving thrushes and petrels with the habits of auks.

The bee can't withdraw its sting owing to the backward serratures and causes the death of the insect by tearing out its viscera. If we looking at the sting of the bee as having originally existed in a remote progenitor as a boring and serrated instrument, like that in so many members of the same great order and which has been modified but not perfected for its present purpose, with the poison originally adapted to cause galls subsequently intensified, we can perhaps understand how it is that the use of the sting should so often cause the insect's own death.

[Linah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the "On Natural Selection" chapter of Darwin's Origin of the Species.

Darwin is renowned for his "controversial" theories which are a constant topic of discussion from different groups. Now, I have read a lot about Natural Selection prior to reading it and read different views on it yet the first impression that I had was people don't do him justice. The theory is simple and explained so beautifully in his brillant writing. You can feel the passion and enthusiasm through his picturesque explanations. I loved the introduction, he gave a lot of examples which he goes into more detail in later chapters It had such an easy flow as he went from topic to topic. It took me a while to read it, more because I wanted to absorb it than anything. I found myself rereading different parts again and again as well as researching while reading each part.

[Adam]

We come from what?!?!?!?

[G. Munckel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro extrae tres capítulos de El origen de las especies, a los que se suma su conclusión final. Incluye también una serie de ilustraciones de Ester García que por sí solas ya son una belleza, pero es que además se trata de dibujos preciosos e inteligentes: algunos son retratos realistas de animales y plantas, pero otros son interpretaciones metafóricas de temas abstractos muy logradas en su sencillez juguetona.

Esas imágenes, además de la traducción impecable de Íñigo Jáuregui, hacen que este libro sea una introducción amena a la obra de Darwin, cuya teoría de la evolución, que se ha ido perfeccionando desde que se publicó por primera vez en 1859, sigue vigente, pero que además está cargada de una capacidad de asombro por la vida y por cómo esta se abre camino para subsistir, que invita a observar con más atención la belleza de la naturaleza a nuestro alrededor y a tratar de comprenderla.

“Existe grandeza en la teoría de que la vida, con sus diversos poderes, alentó inicialmente en unas pocas formas o en una sola, y que mientras el planeta ha seguido girando según las leyes fijas de la gravedad, de un comienzo tan simple han evolucionado, y siguen haciéndolo, incontables formas extremadamente bellas y maravillosas”.

No digo más sobre el contenido de este libro porque ahora mismo empiezo con la lectura de la versión completa de El origen de las especies.

[Ken-ichi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally wrapped up this slim volume. I'll go through my notes later, but for now I'll just say it was fascinating how many aspects of evolution Darwin described in almost exactly the same way I learned it in school, from the basics of natural selection to sexual selection, even selection acting upon traits that arise through non-adaptive means (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandrel...)!

Also, it's Darwin's birthday! To celebrate, you should check out the NYTimes' excellent series of articles on Darwin's legacy. If you're in the Berkeley area, head on over the campus and check out the Essig Museum of Entomology's Darwin Day open house! They have tons of awesome bugs.

Later...

So, I will be perfectly honest and say that I picked this up strictly to read at a coffee shop, because I'd forgotten my current book at home and it had such a pretty cover, but I've always felt rather guilty about not having read Darwin, given that his idea revolutionized my favorite field of study (uh, even though I don't actually study it), and that he actually lived some of the life of my literary hero Stephen Maturin (minus the spying, I assume). So, guilt, intellectual curiosity, and naked consumerism for once worked in concert.

First and foremost, it was amazing to read a scientific work from 150 years ago and find its ideas largely up to date, especially considering how difficult it would be to do the same reading a similar work on geology from 80 years ago, or a work on molecular biology from 40 years ago. Granted, I'm no scientist and I can't exactly vouch for Darwin's accuracy in all cases, but natural selection and sexual selection as he described them seem to be just about the same as when I learned them a couple years ago.

Darwin's rhetorical style was also interesting. It was so ... theoretical! All his arguments rested upon an exceedingly large and long-considered set of observations from which he extracted certain generalizations, just like any good set of hypotheses. But nothing was tested! He didn't even venture to describe what kind of experiments might have been conducted! And I suppose that's just the way it had to be, since he had absolutely no mechanical explanation for his theories, no notion of Mendel, genetics, or of DNA. At the same time, he had the humble uncertainty of the ideal scientist, constantly trying to cover all his bases, anticipate counter-arguments, and admit weaknesses that he had not been able to resolve. In a way, it's amazing how much more revealing of his personality this is than any modern academic paper, and this is apparent in the prose as well, which he littered with personal pronouns and generally exhibits a level of verbosity that would seem fairly uncouth in a modern journal.

Finally, it amazed me how normative he was about natural selection. At the end, he wrote,

...as natural selection works solely by and for the good of each being, all corporeal and mental endowments will tend to progress toward perfection.

Perfection! And used without condition! It's so easy to interpret this sentence as a testament to humanity's superiority to all past forms of life that I must imagine Darwin felt it, at least a little, unless he was trying to lay in some bulwarks against the inevitable religious attack. I maybe have to read
The Descent of Man to find out.

[Choonghwan · Rating 5 out of 5]

From so simple a beginning endless forms of most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved. - Charles Darwin –


The theory of evolution is one of the greatest syntheses of all time, encompassing geography, paleontology, genetics, anatomy and so forth. It has been aggregated and accumulated painstakingly by many great minds over many years and continents. Ever since it was fully articulated by Darwin, it left nothing untouched.

[Farnz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 ⭐️ I feel like every science kid should read this at least once. They mention it in every biology and evolution class you’ll take and it’s def interesting to read something that is so huge in the field. It covers the struggle for existence, Natural selection, difficulties in the theory & more. A short (117 pages total) non-fiction read

[Steve Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is lifted from On The Origin of Species. It is no replacement for Origin, but gives a decent idea of how the mechanism of evolution actually works.

[Marc Lamot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short summary of 'The Origin of Species'. Great selection that clearly shows that Darwin thought much more nuanced about evolution than is generally acknowledged.

[Georgia Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah sure why not

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This slim volume in Penguin's "Great Ideas" series contains edited extracts from Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species". His style of writing is so readable, and the logic of his arguments so reasonable, it is difficult to understand how any rational person could reject what comes across as common sense (yet of course many Christian sects continue to do so). I was struck how his theory of the evolution of species through natural selection goes hand in hand with the inevitability of extinction. His description of how environmental pressures and changes act as catalysts for natural selection, evolution and concomitant extinctions, feels of enormous contemporary relevance as a result of climate change and our slow slide into environmental catastrophe. As a gardener I particularly liked his examples from botany, realising I still grow the red clover, heartsease and sweetpeas he studied so closely (and I never knew that only bumble bees can pollinate red clover flowers). This book is interesting, easy to read and educational, serving as a taster for his full masterpiece, "The Origin of Species".

[Melissa Jacobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating 4.5

This was an absolutely fascinating read, Charles Darwin was such a concise writer and his thoughts were displayed so easily in this small little novella. I really enjoyed this and it was a great start to my booktubeathon reading!!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read. Need to be able to concentrate to understand some of it though. Definitely expanded my understanding of natural selection 😲

[Fadia Elhaddad · Rating 3 out of 5]

جيد جدا
الكتاب الأصلي دون الاختصار سيكون أفضل أعتقد
الترجمة ليست الأفضل أحيانا كانت تميل إلى الأسلوب الأدبي

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was incredible reading the original words that officially introduced the world to the beliefs that I hold about how life works. I had to put it down every once in a while to really absorb how wonderful his arguments and deductions are.

Only 4 stars for this particular volume because reading the entire On the Origin of Species without "..." between paragraphs and ideas is really the full 5-star experience.

This is a good 200-page "best of" and I recommend it to anyone that wants a taste, but isn't ready to commit to the whole original book (which requires some focus, especially if you're not already versed in the field's language).

[Allegra S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative read. I love this collection of books and this is one of the only scientific ones in this series. I had never read an entire of Charles Darwin's essays or books before and I was quite surprised at how advanced and completely his ideas were researched and how little has changed, even in language, from this publication to our modern-day science textbooks. I was even more surprised about how wide a range of species and geographical regions he used as examples, I would like to know how many of these places he traveled to and researched himself.
Overall, it was very straight-forward, informative, and remains a very important insight into our history as a species.

[DilanAc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps to the contemporary reader, this books seems ho-hum. We know it well, we've heard it all before. However this is an incredibly important book, a seminal work, certainly worth spending a couple of hours on it.
Darwin can be a bit repetitive but it just shows how strongly he felt about this, and the times he waxes lyrical is almost laugh out loud funny. Certainly not something he intended, but then perhaps he never imagined that what he thought of as such revolutionary ideas would become so commonplace.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

whilst this is a pivotal piece of scientific writing, it is very dry reading. As a reader of primarily non-fiction, I can understand why this is dull but also understand the importance of Darwin's work, which I fully support. As a book though, nit one of my favourites, I fully believe however, that this book needs to be in existence so that people are not sucked in to the lies of creationists and creation theory.

[Samantha Freeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

His writing style is quite hard to read. His attention to detail is a bit overwhelming as a reader ad it seems to take him two pages to say a simple thing but I guess you have to put it within the context of the time. Worth reading if you are interested in the subject matter but not a particulary enjoyable read.

[Crystal Scruggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this isn't something I would just pick up & read a chapter everyday. I don't know how many times I'd just sit there still reading, though.
"From so simple a beginning
endless forms most beautiful
and most wonderful have
been, and are being,
evolved."

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it! If the idea of reading "The Origin of Species" sounds daunting, or something you'd rather not commit to, than this is the book for you. Just some of the key ideas are presented.
Out of date language proved a test for me, but that's my own problem.

[Akif · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional book by an outstanding thinker. A deep observation made by Darwin and explain it clearly, this will change your perspective looking at life, it certainly changes mine. Some have to die for you to live.

[Michael Batchelor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant essay, obviously. I found it a little difficult to understand, but that's no fault of Darwin of course. I have nothing but admiration for people who question the world for what it is and are able to pioneer a field of science as he did.

[t-rex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darwin is always wonderful, but I'm quite fond of the Penguin Great Ideas series in general. The slim, concise volumes and those striking embossed covers make these such easy books to carry around.

[Hans Gerwitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It is so easy to hide our ignorance under such expressions as the 'plan of creation,' 'unity of design,' &c., and to think that we give an explanation when we only restate a fact."

[Marcus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elegant, compelling, astounding...a beautiful mind flowering.

[Weal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I now wish I paid more attention in biology.

[Mary]

"... To reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent on each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us."