Inviting in its lavish detail, this is Darwin's fascinating account of his five-year journey aboard the Royal Navy ship HMS Beagle (1831-1836) as it surveyed the coasts of South America, New Zealand, Australia, and the now famous Galapagos Archipelago. One of the most important voyages of the 19th century, this is where Darwin made the observations that led to his theory of evolution by means of natural selection, which emerged two decades later. The Voyage of the Beagle (1840-43) has delighted and enlightened millions because of Darwin's loving and insightful observations of the plants, animals, people, and locations he explored. These journals provide striking examples of the great scientist's reasoning ability and intriguing glimpses into his thought processes. They are the precursor to The Descent of Man (1871, 1874), a controversial leap in evolutionary theory from nature to humanity.

The publication of Darwin's The Origin of Species in 1859 marked a dramatic turning point in scientific thought. The volume had taken Darwin more than twenty years to publish, in part because he envisioned the storm of controversy it was certain to unleash. Indeed, selling out its first edition on its first day, The Origin of Species revolutionized science, philosophy, and theology. Darwin's reasoned, documented arguments carefully advance his theory of natural selection and assertion that species were not created all at once by a divine hand but started with a few simple forms that mutated and adapted over time. Whether commenting on his own ill health, discussing his experiments to test instinct in bees, or relating a conversation about a South American burrowing rodent, Darwin's monumental achievement is surprisingly personal and delightfully readable. Its ideas remain extremely profound even today, making it the most influential book in the natural sciences ever written -- a work not just important to its time, but to the history of humankind.Explains evolution, natural selection, and survival of the fittest

Nelle lettere che vanno dal suo arrivo a Edimburgo (1825) ai primi grandi contatti intellettuali a Londra (1859) si dispiega l'avventura di Charles Darwin, medico controvoglia, appassionato di geologia, biologo cauto e timido: dall'insofferenza per i dogmi ricevuti all'impresa a bordo del Beagle, il viaggio lungo le coste del Sudamerica che durerà cinque anni e sarà la fonte delle sue fondamentali intuizioni. Come scrive Stephen Jay Gould nella prefazione, questo epistolario ci permette di gettare uno sguardo nel 'laboratorio segreto' del creatore dell'evoluzionismo moderno, un laboratorio a cielo aperto, dalle campagne della quieta Inghilterra alle lussureggianti Galapagos.

Introduction by Edward J. Larson
 
?Perhaps the most readable and accessible of the great works of scientific inquiry, The Origin of Species sold out its first printing on the very day it was published in 1859. Theologians quickly labeled Charles Darwin the most dangerous man in England and, as the Saturday Review noted, the uproar over the book quickly “passed beyond the bounds of the study and lecture-room into the drawing-room and the public street.” Based largely on Darwin's experience as a naturalist while on a five-year voyage aboard H. M. S. Beagle, The Origin of Species set forth a theory of evolution and natural selection that challenged contemporary beliefs about divine providence and the immutability of species. This Modern Library edition includes a Foreword by the Pulitzer Prize–winning science historian Edward J. Larson, an introductory historical sketch, and a glossary Darwin later added to the original text.

In The Descent of Man (1871, 1874) Charles Darwin (1809-1882) focused special attention on the origin and history of our own species, a subject he had avoided in his previous writings on evolution. He claimed that the human animal is closest in ancestry to the two African 'pongids,' or anthropoid apes (chimpanzees and gorillas). Further, Darwin held that our species and these two pongids differ merely in degree rather than in kind - a controversial view that contradicted religious doctrine. The Descent of Man looks at the emergence of humans in terms of primate evolution. Darwin presents a strictly mechanistic and materialist interpretation of our species that is free from superstition and spiritualism.

Travel journal covering Darwin's voyages from South America to the South Sea islands.

«Secondo Fox i gatti trovano i nidi degli uccelli e poi li tengono d'occhio fin quando i piccoli sono abbastanza grandi da poterseli mangiare. Accanto a una casa calda di Shrewsbury c'era un nido di merli, e Hubbersty si accorse che il gatto andava a sorvegliarlo tutti i giorni per vedere come crescevano i piccoli. Se i gatti mangiano poi davvero gli ucccellini, questo è il più curioso caso di ragionamento e di astinenza». Pubblicati per la prima volta negli anni settanta, i Taccuini M e N e lo splendido Profilo di un bambino (il figlio di Darwin, Doddy) documentano una tappa decisiva nella ricerca darwiniana sui temi della mente, delle emozioni, dell'espressione del comportamento. È un Darwin sconosciuto, agile e rapido, non appesantito da quelle preoccupazioni di rigore, completezza e dignità che renderanno più lenta la prosa delle grandi opere della maturità. Con tecnica quasi fotografica, fatta di ingrandimenti e di accostamenti al vivo, Darwin costruisce l'intelaiatura fondamentale di quello che chiama «il mio castello in aria», una teoria unitaria e tutta evolutiva del vivente nelle sue innumerevoli gradazioni: piante, insetti, crostacei, mammiferi. E ovviamente l'Homo sapiens, di cui esplora dapprima il lato meno razionale (il vecchio, il bambino, il «primitivo») o patologico (il malato di mente) per prendere infine d'assalto la cittadella dell'adulto sano, colto e civilizzato, coi suoi tic rivelatori.

For this new edition of selected key passages from Darwin's nine most important books, mark Ridley has added several elements. A new preface focuses on how Darwin's revolutionary writings can be best understood by modern readers, especially college students. The introduction and notes for each selection have also been revised, based on the latest Darwin scholarship. Finally, the bibliography has been updated, substantially expanded, and annotated to provide students with helpful hints on where to look for more information on Darwin as well as on modern interpretations of evolution.

Introduction by Edward J. Larson
 
?Perhaps the most readable and accessible of the great works of scientific inquiry, The Origin of Species sold out its first printing on the very day it was published in 1859. Theologians quickly labeled Charles Darwin the most dangerous man in England and, as the Saturday Review noted, the uproar over the book quickly “passed beyond the bounds of the study and lecture-room into the drawing-room and the public street.” Based largely on Darwin's experience as a naturalist while on a five-year voyage aboard H. M. S. Beagle, The Origin of Species set forth a theory of evolution and natural selection that challenged contemporary beliefs about divine providence and the immutability of species. This Modern Library edition includes a Foreword by the Pulitzer Prize–winning science historian Edward J. Larson, an introductory historical sketch, and a glossary Darwin later added to the original text.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Charles Darwin's Autobiography was first published in 1887, five years after his death. It was a bowdlerized edition: Darwin's family, attempting to protect his posthumous reputation, had deleted all the passages they considered too personal or controversial. The present complete edition did not appear until 1959, one hundred years after the publication of The Origin of Species. Upon its appearance, Loren Eiseley wrote:

'No man can pretend to know Darwin who does not know his autobiography. Here, for the first time since his death, it is presented complete and unexpurgated, as it exists in the family archives. It will prove invaluable to biographers and cast new light on the personality of one of the world's greatest scientists. Nora Barlow, Darwin's granddaughter, has proved herself a superb editor. Her own annotations make fascinating reading.'

The daring and restless mind, the integrity and simplicity of Darwin's character are revealed in this direct and personal account of his life—his family, his education, his explorations of the natural world, his religion and philosophy. The editor has provided page and line references to the more important restored passages, and previously unpublished notes and letters on family matters and on the controversy between Samuel Butler appear in an appendix.

An account of the five years that English naturalist Charles Darwin spent traveling around the world on the HMS Beagle, a voyage that led him to develop his theory of the evolution of the species.

In the Origin of Species (1859) Darwin challenged many of the most deeply held beliefs of the Western world. Arguing for a material, not divine, origin of species, he showed that new species are achieved by 'natural selection'. Development, diversification, decay, extinction and absence of plan are all inherent to his theories.