Publisher Description
The Origin of Species sold out on the first day of its publication in 1859. It is the major book of the nineteenth century and one of the most readable and accessible of the great revolutionary works of the scientific imagination. Though, in fact, little read, most people know what it says—at least they think they do.
The Origin of Species was the first mature and persuasive work to explain how species change through the process of natural selection. Upon its publication, the book began to transform attitudes about society and religion and was soon used to justify the philosophies of communists, socialists, capitalists, and even Germany’s National Socialists. But the most quoted response came from Thomas Henry Huxley, Darwin’s friend and also a renowned naturalist, who exclaimed, “How extremely stupid not to have thought of that!”
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“Much to my embarrassment, I have never read this volume from beginning to end. I have only read excerpts or portions as related to a specific set of information. Now that I have completed the entire volume, I am even more disappointed in myself as it is utterly amazing. I have long been in awe of Darwin, but how one person could have covered the enormous amount of information he did and have derived the vast number of conclusions and postulations is mind blowing. His response to criticism is noteworthy. He took each comment separately and either clearly explained his position or noted that the answer was not complete but stated how it would be solved. He stated he was less writing for the scientists of his age as he did not expect to change their thinking but for future generations would not only accept his thinking but fill in the many gaps.”
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Correen (5 out of 5 stars)
