On the Origin of Species (Oxford World's Classics) [Paperback]

"Dawkins is a mellifluous and naturally authoratitive reader" The Daily Telegraph "Dawkins brings the famous words to life" Audiofile Magazine ...one of the most arresting narrations of non-fiction I have ever heard...the great naturalist's arguments come over with lucidity and charm.A" Christina Hardyment, The Times. "Having Richard Dawins read it makes a huge difference...if Darwin via Dawkins tells me that the laws of co-relative genetics decree that cats with blue eyes are often deaf, that hairless dogs have bad teeth and that pigeons with short beaks have small feet, I'll buy that..." Sue Arnold, The Guardian. "Dawkins reads engagingly, and the whole effect is like David Attenborough without the pictures" Karen Robinson, The Sunday Times --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'can we doubt ... that individuals having any advantage, however slight, over others, would have the best chance of surviving and of procreating their kind?' In the Origin of Species (1859) Darwin challenged many of the most deeply held beliefs of the Western world. His insistence on the immense length of the past and on the abundance of life-forms, present and extinct, dislodged man from his central position in creation and called into question the role of the Creator. He showed that new species are achieved by natural selection, and that absence of plan is an inherent part of the evolutionary process. Darwin's prodigious reading, experimentation, and observations on his travels fed into his great work, which draws on material from the Galapagos Islands to rural Staffordshire, from English back gardens to colonial encounters. The present edition provides a detailed and accessible discussion of his theories and adds an account of the immediate responses to the book on publication. The resistances as well as the enthusiasms of the first readers cast light on recent controversies, particularly concerning questions of design and descent.

The Broadview Editions series is an effort to represent the ever-changing canon of literature in English by bringing together texts long regarded as classics with valuable, lesser-known literature. Newly type-set and produced on high-quality paper in trade paperback format, the Broadview Editions series is a delight to handle as well as to read.

Each volume includes a full introduction, chronology, bibliography, and explanatory notes along with a variety of documents from the period, giving readers a rich sense of the world from which the work emerged. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Charles Darwin, a Victorian scientist and naturalist, has become one of the most famous figures of science to date. The advent of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859 challenged and contradicted all contemporary biological and religious beliefs. Damien Hirst is an internationally renowned English artist. Known in particular for his series of works on death, Hirst here provides a contemporary, visual take on Darwin's theory of evolution. William Bynum is Professor Emeritus of the History of Medicine at University College, London, and was for many years Head of the Academic Unit of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.