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On the Origin of Species
Series: Oxford World's Classics
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Format: Paperback / softback
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This foundational scientific text is ideal for readers interested in biology, evolutionary theory, and the history of science. It suits students, educators, and those curious about natural history and the development of scientific thought.
In the Origin of Species (1859) Darwin challenged many of the most deeply held beliefs of the Western world. The present edition provides a detailed discussion of his theories and adds an account of the responses of readers to the book on first publication. These cast light on recent controversies, such as questions of design and descent.
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Description
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 On 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.
ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780199219223
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 13 November 2008
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Edition: Revised edition
Illustration: one chart
Contributors:
- Edited by Gillian Beer
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 19.0mm
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 196.0mm
Weight: 296g
Pages: 432
About the Author
Dame Gillian Beer is Fellow of the British Academy and of the Royal Society of Literature. Her Darwin's Plots (1983; second edition 2000) was followed by Open Fields: Science in Cultural Encounter (1996). More recently she has been working on Carroll's Alice books in the context of nineteenth-century intellectual controversies and a new collection of her essays on literature and science is scheduled for 2008.
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