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The Origin of Species (Collector's Library) (Hardcover)

by Oliver Francis (Afterword), Charles Darwin (Author) "When we look to the individuals of the same variety or sub-variety of our older cultivated plants and animals, one of the first points which..." (more)

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Product details

Hardcover: 576 pages
Publisher: CRW Publishing Limited; New edition edition (1 Aug 2004)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0760757844
ISBN-13: 978-0760757840
ASIN: 1904633781
Product Dimensions: 15 x 10.4 x 3.4 cm

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 109,070 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Charles Darwin challenged many of the most deeply-held beliefs of the western world. Arguing for a material, not divine, origin of species, he showed that new species are achieved by 'natural selection'.

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
When we look to the individuals of the same variety or sub-variety of our older cultivated plants and animals, one of the first points which strikes us, is, that they generally differ much more from each other, than do the individuals of any one species o Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read, 27 Mar 2009

By	P. D. Stevenson "withavee" (Leicester, England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is such a nice book I would recommend it to anyone with an interest. Pocket sized and gilt edged this is the one everyone should read. Still causes issues in some areas, but, as is ever the case, usually by people who have not read it.

Treat yourself and buy a copy, read it then speak with some authority.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On the Destiny of Species, 18 Oct 2009

By	Matthew Watkinson (Northampton, England) - See all my reviews

On the Origin of Species must be one of the most famous books in history, yet very few people have any idea what it says. Indeed, even those who claim to have read it seem to have missed the true implications because it's not a book that supports the endless doom and gloom rhetoric that defines modern conservation. In fact, it specifically insults those that wallow in the assumed importance of their own pessimism:

"Nevertheless, so profound is our ignorance, and so high our presumption, that we marvel when we hear of the extinction of an organic being; and as we do not see the cause, we invoke cataclysms to desolate the world, or invent laws on the duration of the forms of life!"

I guess there's a possibility modern conservationists haven't actually read it after all, but either way, objective natural history has been drowned in a cauldron of sentimental hysteria that has nothing to do with Charles Darwin. How comfortable do you think the WWF would be with this quote for example?

"Thus, as it seems to me, the manner in which single species and whole groups of species become extinct accords well with the theory of natural selection."

Given their involvement in the wonderfully preposterous Alliance for Zero Extinction, I would suggest not very. The Alliance for Zero Extinction also includes the Charles Darwin Foundation by the way, but in light of their utopian desperation to end extinction, how comfortable do you think the Charles Darwin Foundation would be with this quote (by Charles Darwin himself remember):

"We need not marvel at extinction; if we must marvel, let it be at our own presumption in imagining for a moment that we understand the many complex contingencies on which the existence of each species depends."

Again, I would suggest not very, and that's why I would urge everybody to read On the Origin of Species before accepting, or suggesting, that humans can `kill the planet'. Yes, they may kill giant pandas, and yes, they may kill polar bears, and yes, they may kill tigers, but no, they will not kill everything. Life will find a way (even if it's via cane toads and comb jellyfish and all the other species that humans don't like very much) and the suggestion that it needs our help is a grotesque insult, at the very best.

And besides, nature doesn't care about giant pandas or polar bears or tigers, as Charles Darwin was well aware:

"Nature, if I may be allowed to personify the natural preservation or survival of the fittest, cares nothing for appearances, except in so far as they are useful to any being."

We may be utterly obsessed with animals with fluffy coats and big eyes, but in reality, nature itself couldn't care less. Life is life after all, regardless of what it looks like:

"The most humble organism is something much higher than the dust under our feet; and no one with an unbiased mind can study any living creature, however humble, without being struck with enthusiasm at its marvellous structure and properties."

They're all incredible, regardless of which types conservationists are trying to save (red squirrels) or kill (grey squirrels) based entirely on self-centred prejudice, and if On the Origin of Species can't convince you, there's always On the Destiny of Species.

***

On the Destiny of Species by Matthew Watkinson will be (or was, depending on when you're reading this) published on the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (24th November 2009) and can be ordered on Amazon.co.uk.

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