Now, Charles Darwin's seminal book is reissued with an introduction by Richard Dawkins, Darwin's successor at Oxford University. Author of such science books as "The Selfish Gene", "Unweaving the Rainbow", "The Blind Watchmaker", "Climbing Mount Improbable" and "River Out of Eden" Dawkins' work has been profoundly influenced by the father of evolution, Charles Darwin. His introduction reveals a number of startling discoveries that mean books about Darwin will have to be rewritten.
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"Are they needed? To be sure. The Darwinian industry, industrious though it is, has failed to provide texts of more than a handful of Darwin's books. If you want to know what Darwin said about barnacles (still an essential reference to cirripedists, apart from any historical importance) you are forced to search shelves, or wait while someone does it for you; some have been in print for a century; various reprints have appeared and since vanished." --Eric Korn, Times Literary Supplement
"Historians, scientists, historians of science, and their students all have reasons to appreciate the care that went into editing and publishing The Works of Charles Darwin." --Muriel L. Blaisdell, Isis --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
"Historians, scientists, historians of science, and their students all have reasons to appreciate the care that went into editing and publishing The Works of Charles Darwin." --Muriel L. Blaisdell, Isis --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
From the Author
'I find an addictive fascination in his Victorian prose style, quite apart from the feeling one gets of having been ushered into the presence of one of the great minds of all time.' Richard Dawkins
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First Sentence
HE who wishes to decide whether man is the modified descendant of some pre-existing form, would probably first enquire whether man varies, however slightly, in bodily structure and in mental faculties; and if so, whether the variations are transmitted to his offspring in accordance with the laws which prevail with the lower animals; such as that of the transmission of characters to the same age or sex. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
HE who wishes to decide whether man is the modified descendant of some pre-existing form, would probably first enquire whether man varies, however slightly, in bodily structure and in mental faculties; and if so, whether the variations are transmitted to his offspring in accordance with the laws which prevail with the lower animals; such as that of the transmission of characters to the same age or sex. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Aside from the fascinating (and mostly accurate) accounts of natural and sexual selection, confirmed decades later by new discoveries in the fossil record and the advent of DNA, this volume presents a fascinating letter from Darwin to Wallace confirming what a superficial examination of species makes apparent: that Darwin was well aware that 'blending' inheritance couldn't be right, and that hereditary traits must be passed on by some particulate process. This is obvious when we realise that our parents are male and female, but we are not born intermediate hermaphrodites. In this sense, and in so many others, Darwin was well ahead of his time.
It is naive, as Dawkins points out in his introduction, to consider the views of this Victorian gentleman (politically conservative, scientifically radical) through post-Nazi hindsight. Contrary to popular belief, Darwinism does not excuse mass extermination in pursuit of 'perfection'; indeed, lengthy passages of this book are given over to emphasising that 'savage' races (an uncontroversial label at the time, whose meaning has since drifted) are not separate species or sub-human. Darwin's limited recommendations for improving ourselves must be considered with this qualification; let us not forget that at the time such views were entirely acceptable.
Darwin accounts for racial differences through sexual selection: superficial but diverse surface differences masking underlyingly highly similar organisms.... Read more ›
It is naive, as Dawkins points out in his introduction, to consider the views of this Victorian gentleman (politically conservative, scientifically radical) through post-Nazi hindsight. Contrary to popular belief, Darwinism does not excuse mass extermination in pursuit of 'perfection'; indeed, lengthy passages of this book are given over to emphasising that 'savage' races (an uncontroversial label at the time, whose meaning has since drifted) are not separate species or sub-human. Darwin's limited recommendations for improving ourselves must be considered with this qualification; let us not forget that at the time such views were entirely acceptable.
Darwin accounts for racial differences through sexual selection: superficial but diverse surface differences masking underlyingly highly similar organisms.... Read more ›
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By hbw
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
(This review relates to the Penguin Classics Edition)
Gosh, this is a long book.
There are three sections. Sections I and III look at the evidence for the development of humans from more primitive creatures and sexual selection in humans. Section II (about half the book) is devoted to sexual selection in everything from insects to mammals.
So is it worth reading? In their introduction, Adrian Desmond and James Moore suggest that it forms the second volume of a trilogy (with On the Origin of Species and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals) and that you really need to read all three to understand Darwinism as Darwin saw it. Part of this is to do with Darwin's two big ideas: natural selection and sexual selection. The other part is about the interrelationship of Darwin's science with the worldview of a Victorian country gentleman and the politics of the day; not least the politics of race, which is explored more thoroughly in Desmond and Moore's recent Darwin's Sacred Cause: Race, Slavery and the Quest for Human Origins.
If you're serious about Darwin and have read "On the Origin of Species", I would recommend tackling this, although you might be forgiven for not ploughing through the whole of Section II. As other reviewers have mentioned, Darwin's language, his views on race and gender and his ideas on the "improvement" of the human race can make uncomfortable reading in the 21st century.... Read more ›
Gosh, this is a long book.
There are three sections. Sections I and III look at the evidence for the development of humans from more primitive creatures and sexual selection in humans. Section II (about half the book) is devoted to sexual selection in everything from insects to mammals.
So is it worth reading? In their introduction, Adrian Desmond and James Moore suggest that it forms the second volume of a trilogy (with On the Origin of Species and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals) and that you really need to read all three to understand Darwinism as Darwin saw it. Part of this is to do with Darwin's two big ideas: natural selection and sexual selection. The other part is about the interrelationship of Darwin's science with the worldview of a Victorian country gentleman and the politics of the day; not least the politics of race, which is explored more thoroughly in Desmond and Moore's recent Darwin's Sacred Cause: Race, Slavery and the Quest for Human Origins.
If you're serious about Darwin and have read "On the Origin of Species", I would recommend tackling this, although you might be forgiven for not ploughing through the whole of Section II. As other reviewers have mentioned, Darwin's language, his views on race and gender and his ideas on the "improvement" of the human race can make uncomfortable reading in the 21st century.... Read more ›
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By Mr. S. Apted
Format:Paperback
A seminal work, such as this, deserves to be read as it represents original, source material for ideas that rocked the world. Unfortunately Darwin is often criticised by people who may never have accessed his original work but take a political and chronologically privileged dislike to how this important source material may, or may not, have been subsequently interpreted. I refer of course to the above review.
Such works as this need to be read with an appreciation of the context in which they were written i.e. a long time ago and within an entirely different world view. Cheap, agenda-ridden, pseudo-intellectual critisism made with the benefit of hindsight and taking a twenty-first century perspective will hopefully not dissuade people from accessing fantastic source material such as this and making their own minds up. Read it, and make your own mind up (before somebody else does it for you).
Such works as this need to be read with an appreciation of the context in which they were written i.e. a long time ago and within an entirely different world view. Cheap, agenda-ridden, pseudo-intellectual critisism made with the benefit of hindsight and taking a twenty-first century perspective will hopefully not dissuade people from accessing fantastic source material such as this and making their own minds up. Read it, and make your own mind up (before somebody else does it for you).
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By "andrew9344"
Format:Paperback
This book is brilliant. However, you must read it in it's own time. Darwin wrote this at a time when people saw humans as being at the top of the ladder that was evolution. This was also a time when Europeans thought themselves to be superior to the rest of the world. This seemed a natural conclusions since they were more advanced, richer and had conquered almost the whole world.
This book is beutifull. Darwin had obviously found mass condemnation from The Origin Of Species,. but also mass acceptance by many, especially from the scientific community. This book is written by a true scientist, who backs up his arguments with as much evidence as possible, but without going overboard. His target audience is not the ignorant who refuse to accept evolution regardless of the available evidence. When read in context, and freed from the fear of mass condemnation which haunted Darwin throughout The Origin Of Species we are given a chance to really see Darwin's genius. When reading this I got the impression that Darwin, freed from the narrow minded ideas of his own time, and given a slight push, could have taken the theory of evolution and advanced it to it's modern state.
It is true that Darwin's theory has been twisted as a justification of the holocaust, and other racial crimes. However, it must be pointed out that Evolution is not alone, many theories can be twisted to justify evil. Also, there is another way of looking at the ladder theory of evolution, which is the way in which the British empire took it. The British helped out other peoples throughout the world, and the plan at least was to stand them up on their own two feet.
There is a very interesting point in thie edition. Karl Marx loved the idea of survival of the fittest.
... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fundamental but slightly off the point on language
This book is heavily, in its first part, speaking of a lot more than genetics, and certainly not of sexual preferences in that field. Read more
Published on 14 Oct 2010 by Jacques COULARDEAU
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just As It Says
Just something that you should read if you are going to study Psychology like me. The book doesnt really need that much explaining as if your looking for it you know what it... Read more
Published on 19 Sep 2010 by D
2.0 out of 5 stars
Darwin would have been embarassed
I bought this book as a historical timeframe for Darwin's amazing discoveries. I did not expected to read it cover to cover but to dip in to sections of interest and to use as a... Read more
Published on 25 Mar 2009 by Mr. James Ferguson
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Darwin's Guide To Man and Sexual Selection
This book is amazing. A demonstration of how man could have come about with out resorting to mysticism etc. Unfortunately this is one area in which Darwin and Wallace disagreed. Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2009 by Stewart Fryer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Genius
This is the work of genius and should be read by all. Especially those scared of the thruth that it highlights.
Published on 28 Mar 2003
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