Read complete books and articles on: Charles Darwin

Darwin, Charles Robert - 1809–82, English naturalist, b. Shrewsbury; grandson of Erasmus Darwin and of Josiah Wedgwood. He firmly established the theory of organic evolution known as Darwinism. He studied medicine at Edinburgh and for the ministry at Cambridge but lost interest in both professions during the training. His interest in natural history led to his friendship with the botanist J. S. Henslow; through him came the opportunity to make a five-year cruise (1831–36) as official naturalist aboard the Beagle. This started Darwin on a career of accumulating and assimilating data that resulted in the formulation of his concept of evolution. He spent the remainder of his life carefully and methodically working over the information from his copious notes and from every other available source.

Independently, A. R. Wallace had worked out a theory similar to Darwin's. Both men were exceptionally modest; they first published summaries of their ideas simultaneously in 1858. In 1859, Darwin set forth the structure of his theory and massive support for it in the superbly organized Origin of Species, supplemented and elaborated in his many later books, notably The Descent of Man (1871). He also formulated a theory of the origin of coral reefs.

See his autobiography (ed. by N. Barlow, 1958) and Life and Letters (ed. by F. Darwin, 1887; repr. with intro. by G. G. Simpson, 1962); letters of Darwin and Henslow, ed. by N. Barlow (1967); The Corespondence of Charles Darwin ed. by F. Burkhardt et al. (10 vol., 1987–97); J. Barzun, Darwin, Marx, Wagner (rev. ed. 1958); G. Wichler, Charles Darwin: The Founder of the Theory of Evolution and Natural Selection (tr. 1961); A. Moorehead, Darwin and the Beagle (1969, rev. ed. 1979); P. Appleman, ed., Darwin (1970, repr. 1983); D. L Hull, Darwin and His Critics (1983); R. J. Richards, Darwin and the Emergence of Evolutionary Theories of Mind and Behavior (1989); R. Dawkins, River Out of Eden (1995); D. C. Dennett, Darwin's Dangerous Idea (1995); N. Eldredge, Reinventing Darwin (1995); S. Jones, Darwin's Ghost: "The Origin of Species" Updated (2000); J. Browne, Charles Darwin: Voyaging (1995) and Charles Darwin: The Power of Place (2002).

Show Excerpt Only

13 of the Best Books and Articles on: Charles Darwin

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

The Cambridge Companion to Darwin » Read Now
by Jonathan Hodge, Gregory Radick. 486 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Charles Darwin remains the subject of continuing energetic debate in the fields of philosophy, history of science, biology and history of ideas. This volume offers a collection of newly commissioned essays from experts in their fields, and will provide a student readership with an accessible guide through Darwin's thought.
2.

The Origin of Species » Read Now
by Charles Darwin, Gillian Beer . 439 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

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." The Origin communicates the enthusiasm of original thinking in an open...
Read More

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." The Origin communicates the enthusiasm of original thinking in an open, descriptive style, and Darwin's emphasis on the value of diversity speaks more strongly now than ever. As well as a stimulating introduction and detailed notes, this edition offers a register of the many writers referred to by Darwin in the text.
Show less
3.

The Voyage of the Beagle » Read Now
by Charles Darwin. 440 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
4.

The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals » Read Now
by Charles Darwin. 372 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library
5.

Ever since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History » Read Now
by Stephen Jay Gould. 285 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, History, Entire Library
6.

Charles Darwin: A Portrait » Read Now
by Geoffrey West. 362 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...MCMILLAN OF THE CLASS OF 1894 YALE COLLEGE CHARLES DARWIN IN 1881 CHARLES DARWIN A PORTRAIT BY GEOFFREY WEST NEW HAVEN...Romanes, applies to its subject: "It is in Charles...
7.

Darwin » Read Now
by Gamaliel Bradford. 320 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
8.

A Book That Shook the World: Anniversary Essays on Charles Darwin's Origin of Species » Read Now
by Julian S. Huxley, Theodosius Dobzhansky, Reinhold Niebuhr, Oliver L. Reiser, Swami Nikhilananda. 60 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...WORLD Anniversary Essays on Charles Darwins Origin of Species Julian...PREFACE A CENTURY AGO, 1858, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace jointly...the following year...
9.

Charles Darwin and the Evolution Revolution » Read Now
by Rebecca Stefoff. 128 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
10.

Evolution and Human Behavior: An Introduction to Darwinian Anthropology » Read Now
by Alexander Alland Jr.. 343 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
11.

Philosophical Darwinism: On the Origin of Knowledge by Means of Natural Selection » Read Now
by Peter Munz. 252 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

Peter Munz's latest book examines knowledge in the light of biology and in particular, in the light of Darwin's theory of natural selection.It argues that the biological interpretation of the phenomenon of knowledge not only supersedes all varieties of traditional positivism but is also an...
Read More

Peter Munz's latest book examines knowledge in the light of biology and in particular, in the light of Darwin's theory of natural selection.It argues that the biological interpretation of the phenomenon of knowledge not only supersedes all varieties of traditional positivism but is also an improvement on the sociology of knowledge as well as on the current vogue of cognitive science and makes postmodern relativism superfluous. The aquisition of knowledge, Munz argues, is continuous, right from the protozoa to the most advanced scientific theories. Organisms are best seen as embodied theories and scientific theories are best understood as disembodied organisms, the selection of which, though artificial, is controlled by the same principles as evolution itself.
Show less
12.

Darwin and the Darwinian Revolution » Read Now
by Gertrude Himmelfarb. 480 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...first to consider is whether Charles Darwin is right or no"? Only the closest...that greatness. The ancestry of Charles Darwin, as it was known to him, dates...grandfather...
13.

Darwin's Spectre: Evolutionary Biology in the Modern World » Read Now
by Michael R. Rose. 223 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

Darwin's Spectre will be a lightning rod among books on the great naturalist. Rose's emphatic opinions will ensure that the book will not be ignored. Other trade books have also explored Darwinism and its modern meaning, but Rose's is unique in its combination of a frankly historical placing of...
Read More

Darwin's Spectre will be a lightning rod among books on the great naturalist. Rose's emphatic opinions will ensure that the book will not be ignored. Other trade books have also explored Darwinism and its modern meaning, but Rose's is unique in its combination of a frankly historical placing of Darwin's ideas, its consideration of their many ramifications for modern life, and its grand conjectures about the future. DLSteven M. Austad, University of Idaho; author of Why We Age Extending the human life-span past 120 years. The green revolution. Evolution and human psychology. These subjects make today's newspaper headlines. Yet much of the science underlying these topics stems from a book published nearly 140 years agoDLCharles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. Far from an antique idea restricted to the nineteenth century, the theory of evolution is one of the most potent concepts in all of modern science. In Darwin's Spectre, Michael Rose provides the general reader with an introduction to the theory of evolution: its beginning with Darwin, its key concepts, and how it may affect us in the future. First comes a brief biographical sketch of Darwin. Next, Rose gives a primer on the three most important concepts in evolutionary theoryDLvariation, selection, and adaptation. With a firm grasp of these concepts, the reader is ready to look at modern applications of evolutionary theory. Discussing agriculture, Rose shows how even before Darwin farmers and ranchers unknowingly experimented with evolution. Medical research, however, has ignored Darwin's lessons until recently, with potentially grave consequences. Finally, evolution supplies important new vantage points on human nature. If humans weren't created by deities, then our nature may be determined more by evolution than we have understood. Or it may not be. In this question, as in many others, the Darwinian perspective is one of the most important for understanding human affairs in the modern world. Darwin's Spectre explains how evolutionary biology has been used to support both valuable applied research, particularly in agriculture, and truly frightening objectives, such as Nazi eugenics. Darwin's legacy has been a comfort and a scourge. But it has never been irrelevant.
Show less