- Hardcover: 703 pages
- Publisher: Castle Books (May 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0785819118
- ISBN-13: 978-0785819110
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 14.6 x 6.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 1 Kg
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #450,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Does not waste time with controversy; just read the book.,
By
This review is from: The Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (Hardcover)
This is a quick review of the book not a dissertation on Darwin or any other subject loosely related. At first I did not know what to expect. I already read " The Voyage of the Beagle: Charles Darwin's Journal of Researches" (see my review). I figured the book would be similar. However I found "Origin" to be more complex and detailed.
Taking in account that recent pieces of knowledge were not available to Charles Darwin this book could have been written last week. Having to look from the outside without the knowledge of DNA or Plate Tectonics, he pretty much nailed how the environment and crossbreeding would have an effect on natural selection. Speaking of natural selection, I thought his was going to be some great insight to a new concept. All it means is that species are not being mucked around by man (artificial selection). If you picked up Time magazine today you would find all the things that Charles said would be near impossible to find or do. Yet he predicted that it is doable in theory. With an imperfect geological record many things he was not able to find at the writing of this book have been found (according to the possibilities described in the book.) The only draw back to the book was his constant apologizing. If he had more time and space he could prove this and that. Or it looks like this but who can say at this time. Or the same evidence can be interpreted 180 degrees different. In the end it is worth reading and you will never look at life the same way again.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews) 21 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Scientist,
By Benjamin Rossen "Benjamin" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (Hardcover)
Many people assume that Darwin's initial account of natural selection is so out of date that it is to be avoided in favour of more recent text books of evolutionary theory. While it is true that huge gains have been made in the one and a half centuries since the first publication of "The Origin", there is nothing in this work which is wrong. Darwin was too good a scientist and too cautious.
Some claim that Darwin admitted of the possibility of Lamarkian mechanisms. They have not read the original. Darwin knew nothing of the molecular basis of genetics, but knew that natural selection did not need a Lamarkian mechanism. He simply did not rule it out, although he found it improbable. Everything that is stated in this great classic is as true today as it was at the time of first publication. It is also said that Charles Darwin was a lesser intellectual when compared to most other great names of science; that he was a plodder, a naturalist, a sort of gentleman stamp collector who pressed flowers into his books and barely a scientist in the contemporary sense. This is nonsense. Darwin was one of the giants of rigorous systematic thinking; the kind of rigorous thinking and critical attitude that asks the right questions and provides the capacity to answer them. Let me buttress this claim with one example. At the end of chapter six Darwin noted that the theory of natural selection could not account for structures or behaviors found in one species that exist solely for the benefit of another unrelated species. In setting out the theoretical terms for the refutation of the theory in this way, he anticipated Karl Popper, that analytical non-nonsense philosopher of science, by more than a century. I recommend you read this book with an attentive curious analytical mind. You will find yourself walking in the footsteps of an intellectual giant.
1.0 out of 5 stars
They forgot to include the diagram!,
By Mayski Kot - Published on Amazon.com
How could they forget to include the famous Darwin's diagram?! Darwin refers to the diagram on many occasions, notably on page 75 of this edition, "The accompanying diagram will aid us in understanding...," except there is no diagram accompanying this edition, so our understanding of this great book is to remain unaided, against the author's wishes. I checked every single page in the book by hand - the diagram is nowhere to be found. The electronic search under the "Look inside!" tool also shows that the diagram is not included. This edition is simply a waste of ten bucks.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Need to know for cultural literacy,
By bernie "xyzzy" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Origin of Species (Paperback)
Because these reviews are cross-posted, this is a review of ISBN: 0517123207, with a cover that was defiantly made to be provocative. It depicts an (ape) allying view of going from all fours to upright. If this is what you are looking for then you need to read " 2001: A Space Odyssey" by Arthur Charles Clarke.This is a quick review of the book not a dissertation on Darwin or any other subject loosely related. At first, I did not know what to expect. I already read " The Voyage of the Beagle: Charles Darwin's Journal of Researches" (see my review). I figured the book would be similar. However, I found "Origin" to be more complex and detailed. Taking in account that recent pieces of knowledge were not available to Charles Darwin this book could have been written last week. Having to look from the outside without the knowledge of DNA or Plate Tectonics, he pretty much nailed how the environment and crossbreeding would have an effect on natural selection. Speaking of natural selection, I thought his was going to be some great insight to a new concept. All it means is that species are not being mucked around by man (artificial selection). If you picked up Time magazine today you would find all the things that Charles said would be near impossible to find or do. Yet he predicted that it is doable in theory. With an imperfect geological record, many things he was not able to find at the writing of this book have been found (according to the possibilities described in the book.) The only draw back to the book was his constant apologizing. If he had more time and space he could prove this and that. Or it looks like this but who can say at this time. On the other hand, the same evidence can be interpreted 180 degrees different. In the end, it is worth reading and you will never look at life the same way again. The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski |
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