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HarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved,
essential classics. 'How fleeting are the wishes and efforts of
man! how short his time! and consequently how poor will his
products be, compared with those accumulated by nature during whole
geological periods.' Still considered one of the most important and
groundbreaking works of science ever written, Darwin's eminently
readable exploration of the evolutionary process challenged most of
the strong beliefs of the Western world. Forced to question the
idea of the Creator, mid-nineteenth century readers were faced with
Darwin's theories on the laws of natural selection and the
randomness of evolution, causing massive controversy at the time.
However, Darwin's theories remain instrumental in providing the
backbone to modern biology today.
Initially received with muted applause, Darwin's The Origin of
Species by Means of Natural Selection was soon recognized as the
breakthrough scientific advance that explained the evidence of the
world around us, the place and history of humans, the connections
between environment and evolution. Still regarded by some as
radical, Darwin's contribution to world knowledge is immeasurable.
This new, popular edition has been edited and abridged for the
modern reader, to introduce Darwin's research in a digestible form.
The FLAME TREE Foundations series features core publications which
together have shaped the cultural landscape of the modern world,
with cutting-edge research distilled into pocket guides designed to
be both accessible and informative.
A new, deluxe hardcover edition of one of the most important
scientific works ever written In December 1831, Charles Darwin
boarded the HMS Beagle, accompanying her crew on a five-year
journey that crossed the Atlantic Ocean to survey the coasts of
South America. As the expedition's geologist and naturalist, Darwin
collected evidence from the Galapagos Islands and other locations
which prompted him to speculate that species evolve over
generations through a process of natural selection. In 1859, Darwin
published On the Origin of Species, a work of scientific literature
considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. His
revolutionary work presented evidence from the Beagle expedition as
well as from years of subsequent research and experimentation.
Written for non-specialists, Darwin's book gained widespread
interest from the scientific community, religious leaders,
politicians and the general public. The theory Darwin presented in
his book quickly became the subject of heated debate and
discussion. Now accepted by the scientific community, Darwin's
concepts of evolutionary adaptation via natural selection are
central to modern evolutionary theory and form the foundation of
modern life sciences. Perhaps the most transformative scientific
volume ever published, this volume of the first edition of On the
Origin of Species Outlines Darwin's ideas, scientific influences
and the core of his theory Details natural selection and address
possible objections to the theory Examines the fossil record and
biogeography to support evolutionary adaptation Features a
"Recapitulation and Conclusion" which reviews key concepts and
considers the future relevance of Darwin's theory On the Origin of
Species: The Science Classic is an important addition to the
bestselling Capstone Classics series edited by Tom Butler-Bowdon.
It includes an insightful Introduction from leading Darwin scholar
Dr John van Wyhe of the University of Singapore, which presents new
research and an offers an original perspective on Darwin and his
famous work. This high-quality, hardcover volume is a must-have for
readers interested in science and scientific literature,
particularly evolutionary theory and life sciences.
An instant bestseller in 1859, few books have had such a
revolutionary impact and left such a lasting impression as On the
Origin of Species. Possibly the most important and challenging
scientific book ever published, Darwin's language remains
surprisingly modern and direct and is presented here in a faithful
facsimile edition. The text is taken from the second edition
(1860), which is the same as the first except for some minor
corrections and so is the purest distillation of Darwin's original
vision. It includes a new foreword by David Williams, Researcher at
the Natural History Museum,and the introductory appendix, An
Historical Sketch of the Recent Progress of Opinion on the Origin,
which first appeared in the third edition (1861). As such it is an
ideal scholarly resource as well an attractive and excellent value
edition for the general reader.
This volume is part of the definitive edition of letters written by
and to Charles Darwin, the most celebrated naturalist of the
nineteenth century. Notes and appendixes put these fascinating and
wide-ranging letters in context, making the letters accessible to
both scholars and general readers. Darwin depended on
correspondence to collect data from all over the world, and to
discuss his emerging ideas with scientific colleagues, many of whom
he never met in person. The letters are published chronologically:
Volume 21 includes letters from 1873, the year in which Darwin
received responses to his work on human and animal expression. Also
in this year, Darwin continued his work on carnivorous plants and
plant movement, finding unexpected similarities between the plant
and animal kingdoms, raised a subscription for his friend Thomas
Henry Huxley, and decided to employ a scientific secretary for the
first time - his son Francis.
Even before Charles Darwin changed the world with his theory of
natural selection, he was recognised as an eminent scientist and
natural historian. Published in 1840, his Journal of Researches
into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries
Visited by H.M.S. Beagle reveals him as a writer of formidable
intelligence and a keen observer of natural and human life.
Darwin's journal encompasses every observable detail of the
animals, birds and plants he encountered on the five-year voyage.
It includes minute descriptions and even sketches of the movements
and habits of hitherto unfamiliar species. Accompanying the entries
are his own conclusions, analyses and classificatory notes that
demonstrate his skill and talent as a naturalist. Darwin's entries
on natural phenomena are interspersed with anecdotes of the
indigenous peoples he encountered, transforming his journal from an
impersonal scientific record to a book of true human interest.
This book, the first of three-volumes detailing the life of Charles
Darwin, published five years after his death, was edited by his son
Francis, who was his father's collaborator in experiments in botany
and who after his death took on the responsibility of overseeing
the publication of his remaining manuscript works and letters. In
the preface to the first volume, Francis Darwin explains his
editorial principles: 'In choosing letters for publication I have
been largely guided by the wish to illustrate my father's personal
character. But his life was so essentially one of work, that a
history of the man could not be written without following closely
the career of the author.' Among the family history, anecdotes and
reminiscences of scientific colleagues is a short autobiographical
essay which Charles Darwin wrote for his children and
grandchildren, rather than for publication. This account of Darwin
the man has never been bettered.
This book, the third of three-volumes detailing the life of Charles
Darwin, published five years after his death, was edited by his son
Francis, who was his father's collaborator in experiments in botany
and who after his death took on the responsibility of overseeing
the publication of his remaining manuscript works and letters. In
the preface to the first volume, Francis Darwin explains his
editorial principles: 'In choosing letters for publication I have
been largely guided by the wish to illustrate my father's personal
character. But his life was so essentially one of work, that a
history of the man could not be written without following closely
the career of the author.' Among the family history, anecdotes and
reminiscences of scientific colleagues is a short autobiographical
essay which Charles Darwin wrote for his children and
grandchildren, rather than for publication. This account of Darwin
the man has never been bettered.
Written in collaboration with his son Francis, a notable botanist,
this 1880 book builds on Darwin's earlier investigations into
climbing plants, orchids, insectivorous plants, flower variety, and
the processes of fertilisation. This detailed study of many species
from seed to mature plant further develops Darwin's work on
adaptation and evolution, with the aim of collating the results of
individual studies into common factors applicable to plants in
general. Particular emphasis is given to analysis and investigation
of the process here termed circumnutation, the movement of the stem
of the plant in order to direct the head in certain directions.
This is seen as of paramount importance, with the conclusion that
it is modification of this feature that has enabled plants to adapt
and evolve so diversely. The authors also note similarities between
plants and animals, such as sensitivity to touch and habit of
action at certain times.
These two short monographs, published under the auspices of the
Palaeontographical Society in 1851 and 1854, show Charles Darwin as
a meticulous research scientist, poring over fossils collected by
himself and other enthusiasts in Britain and in Europe. The first
volume is devoted to the Lepadidae, and the second to the Balanidae
and Verrucidae (all types of barnacle, members of the infraclass
Cirripedia). Darwin's interest in barnacles had first arisen in his
student days in Edinburgh, under the guidance of Robert Grant, and
increased during his detailed work in dissecting and classifying
the specimens he had collected on the Beagle voyage. The
publication of his findings cemented his reputation as a expert
taxonomist and biologist, and his observations over eight years of
the minute differences between males, females and an apparent
hermaphroditic stage of development lent support to his developing
theory of evolution.
This second edition of The Expression of the Emotions in Man and
Animals was edited by his son Francis Darwin and published in 1890.
As Sir Francis notes in his brief preface, because the first
edition did not sell out in Charles Darwin's lifetime, 'he had no
opportunity of publishing the material collected with a view to a
second edition.' This material, in the form of 'a mass of letters,
extracts from and references to books' was utilised in the second
edition, as were Darwin's pencilled corrections in his own volume
of the first. The book is a study of the muscular movements of the
face (both human and animal) triggered by the emotions being felt -
a 'physical' response to a 'mental' sensation. Darwin's detailed
analysis of what actually happens to a body in a state of fear, or
joy, or anger is illustrated by photographic images.
Darwin had long been fascinated by insectivorous plants, from the
native British sundews and bladderworts to the exotic pinguiculas
and nepenthes which he encountered during the Beagle voyage.
Growing in environments low in soil nutrients, their highly
specialised ways of obtaining enough food, including the capability
for fast movement in the case of the Venus flytrap, were evidence
of evolutionary adaptation. But he was also interested in what food
they needed, and whether they would be selective when offered a
varied diet; and how did the flytrap close its trap on its prey?
Darwin conducted a range of simple but ingenious experiments on his
collection of insectivores and observed and noted the results of
each with his customary meticulousness. The results can be seen in
this book, which remains of enormous interest to anyone whose
imagination has been fired by these strange and beautiful plants.
The development of Charles Darwin's views on evolution by natural
selection has fascinated biologists since the 1859 publication of
his landmark text On The Origin of Species. His experiences,
observations and reflections during and after his pivotal journey
on the Beagle during 1831-36 were of critical importance. Darwin
was not, however, a man to be rushed. While his autobiography
claims that the framework of his theory was laid down by 1839, its
first outline sketch did not emerge until 1842. That essay was
heavily edited, with many insertions and erasures. It formed the
vital kernel of his more expansive but also unpolished and
unpublished essay of 1844. Following careful editing by his son
Francis, both essays were published in 1909, and are reproduced
here. Reading these side by side, and together with the Origin,
permits us to scrutinise selection and evolution truly in action.
In his introduction, Darwin reveals that for many years he had no
intention of publishing his notes on this topic, 'as I thought that
I should thus only add to the prejudices against my views'. By
1871, he felt that his fellow scientists would show a greater
openness of mind to his arguments, even when taken to their logical
conclusion and applied to the descent of man from the apes - the
aspect of his theory which had been so widely mocked since the
notorious question asked by Bishop Wilberforce at the Oxford debate
of 1860: was it through his grandmother or his grandfather that
Thomas Huxley, Darwin's champion, considered himself descended from
a monkey? However, the book's focus on the area of sexual selection
and the evolutionary importance of secondary sexual characteristics
across the animal kingdom meant that the book was received without
the public outrage that Darwin had feared.
In his introduction, Darwin reveals that for many years he had no
intention of publishing his notes on this topic, 'as I thought that
I should thus only add to the prejudices against my views'. By
1871, he felt that his fellow scientists would show a greater
openness of mind to his arguments, even when taken to their logical
conclusion and applied to the descent of man from the apes - the
aspect of his theory which had been so widely mocked since the
notorious question asked by Bishop Wilberforce at the Oxford debate
of 1860: was it through his grandmother or his grandfather that
Thomas Huxley, Darwin's champion, considered himself descended from
a monkey? However, the book's focus on the area of sexual selection
and the evolutionary importance of secondary sexual characteristics
across the animal kingdom meant that the book was received without
the public outrage that Darwin had feared.
This book, published in 1881, was the result of many years of
experimentation and observation by Darwin in the open-air
laboratory of his garden at Down House in Kent. As he wrote in his
introduction, the subject of soil disturbance by worms 'may appear
an insignificant one, but we shall see that it possesses some
interest'. He goes on to demonstrate the immensity - in size and
over time - of the accumulated tiny movements of soil by
earthworms, and their vital role in aerating the soil and breaking
down vegetable material to keep the topsoil, the growing medium for
all plant life and thus vital to human existence, fertile and
healthy. At a time when there is huge interest in growing food
organically and without using artificial fertilisers, Darwin's
insights are as important, and his descriptions of his experiments
as fascinating, as they were in the late nineteenth century.
Darwin's impetus for the experiments of which the results are
recorded in this book was 'a mere accidental observation; and
indeed it required the accident to be repeated before my attention
was thoroughly aroused to the remarkable fact that seedlings of
self-fertilised parentage are inferior, even in the first
generation, in height and vigour to seedlings of cross-fertilised
parentage'. After eleven years of meticulous experimentation and
observation, described in this volume, he was ready to publish in
1876 the detailed study which he regarded as a companion volume to
his 1862 On the Various Contrivances by which British and Foreign
Orchids are Fertilised by Insects. His 'first and most important of
the conclusions which may be drawn ... is that cross-fertilisation
is generally beneficial, and self-fertilisation injurious': this
understanding is of course the basis of all modern plant breeding
programmes.
'I have always maintained that, excepting fools, men did not differ
much in intellect, only in zeal & hard work; and I still think
there is an eminently important difference'. Throughout 1869,
Darwin continued to collect data for his two most significant books
after Origin: The Descent of Man and Expression of the Emotions.
Explorers, diplomats, and missionaries all over the world were
politely encouraged to investigate, for example, how emotions such
as surprise, anger and shame were expressed in different cultures.
As Darwin's research on human evolution neared completion, he
learned that Alfred Russel Wallace, the co-discoverer of the
theory, had begun to raise questions about its application to
certain aspects of human development, attributing these to the
action of a 'higher power'. In his correspondence, Wallace alluded
to his belief in spiritualism, which he fully believed to be open
to scientific investigation, but which gave Darwin much pause.
The seventh volume of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin covers two of the most momentous years in Darwin's life and in the history of science. Begun in 1856, Darwin's big book on species, later published as Natural Selection (Cambridge University Press, 1974) was a little more than half finished when Darwin unexpectedly received a letter and a manuscript from Alfred Russel Wallace indicating that he too had independently formulated a theory of natural selection. In a letter to his friend, Charles Lyell, Darwin wrote, "So all my originality, whatever it may amount to, will be smashed." On the Origin of Species was an abstract of the larger manuscript and was published in 1859. All the extant correspondence surrounding Darwin's receipt of Wallace's letter and the eventual publication of the abstract of Darwin's theory a year later is gathered in this volume. The letters detail the stages in the preparation of what was to become one of the world's most famous works, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. They reveal the first impressions of Darwin's book given by his confidants; including Joseph Dalton Hooker, Thomas Henry Huxley, and Asa Gray. Finally, the letters relate Darwin's anxious response to the early reception of this theory by friends, family members, and prominent naturalists. This volume provides the key to understanding Darwin's remarkable efforts for more than two decades to solve one of nature's greatest riddles--the origin of species. This volume also contains a supplement (1821-1857) of letters which have been located or redated since publication of Volumes One to Six of the Correspondence. Many of these letters appear in print for the first time and provide an interesting and important complement to the correspondence published to date.
This volume is part of the definitive edition of letters written by
and to Charles Darwin, the most celebrated naturalist of the
nineteenth century. Notes and appendixes put these fascinating and
wide-ranging letters in context, making the letters accessible to
both scholars and general readers. Darwin depended on
correspondence to collect data from all over the world, and to
discuss his emerging ideas with scientific colleagues, many of whom
he never met in person. The letters are published chronologically.
Darwin died in April 1882, but was active in science almost up
until the end, raising new research questions and responding to
letters about his last book, on earthworms. The volume also
contains a supplement of nearly 400 letters written between 1831
and 1880, many of which have never been published before.
This volume is part of the definitive edition of letters written by
and to Charles Darwin, the most celebrated naturalist of the
nineteenth century. Notes and appendixes put these fascinating and
wide-ranging letters in context, making the letters accessible to
both scholars and general readers. Darwin depended on
correspondence to collect data from all over the world, and to
discuss his emerging ideas with scientific colleagues, many of whom
he never met in person. The letters are published chronologically.
In 1881, Darwin published his final book, The Formation of
Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms. He reflected on
reactions to his previous book, The Power of Movement in Plants,
and worked on two papers for the Linnean Society on the action of
carbonate of ammonia on plants. In this year, Darwin's elder
brother, Erasmus, died, and a second grandchild, also named
Erasmus, was born.
Initially published by the Linnean Society, this 1865 essay was
Darwin's first foray into the study of climbing plants. He was
inspired to produce this work by a paper on the tendrilled
Cucurbitacean plant by American botanist Asa Gray, with whom he had
a firm intellectual friendship. Darwin examines in detail those
plants which climb using a twisting stem, such as the hop;
leaf-climbers, such as the clematis; tendrilled plants such as the
passion flower; and hook and root climbers such as ivy. The
conclusions reached by his study are presented in terms of the
adaptations of various species to their environments, a
continuation of the theories that Darwin had propounded in his On
the Origin of the Species six years earlier. His passion for the
design of the plants and fascination with the diversity of their
powers of movement are clear in this accessible example of the
process of evolution.
Never before have the four great works of Charles Darwin Voyage of
the H.M.S. Beagle (1845), The Origin of Species (1859), The Descent
of Man (1871), and The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals
(1872) been collected under one cover. Undertaking this challenging
endeavor 123 years after Darwin's death, two-time Pulitzer Prize
winner Edward O. Wilson has written an introductory essay for the
occasion, while providing new, insightful introductions to each of
the four volumes and an afterword that examines the fate of
evolutionary theory in an era of religious resistance. In addition,
Wilson has crafted a creative new index to accompany these four
texts, which links the nineteenth-century, Darwinian evolutionary
concepts to contemporary biological thought. Beautifully slipcased,
and including restored versions of the original illustrations, From
So Simple a Beginning turns our attention to the astounding power
of the natural creative process and the magnificence of its
products."
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