Klowey’s Reviews > On the Origin of Species > Status Update

Dawkins' 2003 version reserves the first edition's 14 chapters intact but abridges by cutting ~50% of the text, removing repetitive examples, lengthy footnotes, some digressions while retaining core arguments & nearly all chapter headings.

Finished Chapter 2: Variation under Nature
Summary:
Darwin argues that variation occurs ubiquitously in wild species, with the line between varieties and species being arbitrary and fluid. Well-marked varieties can become "incipient species," setting the stage for divergence through natural means.

Chapter 1: Variation under Domestication
Darwin illustrates how humans have profoundly modified plants and animals through selective breeding, producing vast diversity from common ancestors, like numerous pigeon breeds from the rock dove. He emphasizes small, inherited variations accumulated over generations, showing modification on a scale relevant to natural processes.

Summaries of 1 & 2: focus on variation as the foundation for evolution. abridged edition retains Darwin's original content, with annotations and a preface but no major rewriting of the core text.

Finished Chapter 2
Starting Chapter 3

Finished Chapter 1
Starting Chapter 2