Product Description
Gwen Raverat, the granddaughter of Charles Darwin, described Period Piece, her classic memoir of an English childhood in the late 19th century, as a drawing of the world when I was young. The observations of the small incidents in her life, recorded here both in pen portraits and line drawings, reveal an artist s careful eye.Vividly evoking a bygone era, it is a shrewd, touching and comic portrait of her childhood, her eccentric relations and of Cambridge society and university. Since she was renowned as a book illustrator, it is not surprising that her line drawings for Period Piece are a masterpiece of controlled wit and charm all on their own. ... Read more

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Charles Darwin changed the direction of modern thought by establishing the basis of evolutionary biology.This fascinating selection of letters, offers a glimpse of his daily experiences, scientific observations, personal concerns and friendships.Beginning with a charming set of letters at the age of twelve, through his university years in Edinburgh and Cambridge up to the publication of his most famous work, On the Origin of Species in 1859, these letters chart one of the most exciting periods of Darwin's life, including the voyage of the Beagle and subsequent studies which led him to develop his theory of natural selection.Darwin's vivid writing style enables the reader to see the world through his own eyes, as he matures from grubby schoolboy in Shropshire to one of the most controversial thinkers of modern times. This is a special Anniversary Edition of the best-selling Burkhardt: Charles Darwin's Letters: A Selection, 1825-1859 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Essential reading on the foundations of modern biology
Now that the entire collection of Charles Darwin's letters that have survived is available on the web one might wonder why one would need a selection of them in printed form. In fact, however, Darwin is known to have exchanged at least 14500 letters with around 2000 different correspondents, and although the whole collection is a supremely valuable resource for the serious scholar it is hardly digestible for the more casual reader, who needs some preselection to whet the appetite for a more detailed examination.

This first collection covers the years from 1822, when Darwin was a schoolboy, to the end of 1859, when the first edition of his best-known book, The Origin of Species, was published. It thus covers the essential period of the years leading up to the publication of the theory of natural selection, and contains much valuable information about his thoughts at that time. In particular, although Darwin's diffidence about publishing is well known, and he might never have taken the leap if he hadn't learned of the parallel development of similar ideas by Alfred Russel Wallace, his correspondence makes it clear that he wasn't diffident about the idea of natural selection itself -- he just worried that he hadn't developed the argument sufficiently to convince a broad public.

Not the least valuable component of this collection is the excellent foreword by Stephen Jay Gould, which supplies a very readable introduction to the context in which the letters were written. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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With his revolutionary work "The Origin of Species", Charles Darwin overthrew contemporary beliefs about Divine Providence and the beginnings of life on earth. Written for the general public of the 1850s, it is a rigorously documented but highly readable account of the scientific theory that now lies at the root of our present attitude to the universe. Challenging notions such as the fixity of species with the idea of natural selection, and setting forth the results of pioneering work on the ecology of animals and plants, it made a lasting contribution to philosophical and scientific thought.Amazon.com Review
It's hard to talk about The Origin of Species withoutmaking statements that seem overwrought and fulsome. But it's true:this is indeed one of the most important and influential books everwritten, and it is one of the very few groundbreaking works of sciencethat is truly readable.

To a certain extent it suffers from theHamlet problem--it's full of clichés! Or what are nowclichés, but which Darwin was the first to pen. Naturalselection, variation, the struggle for existence, survival of thefittest: it's all in here.

Darwin's friend and "bulldog"T.H. Huxley said upon reading the Origin, "How extremely stupidof me not to have thought of that." Alfred Russel Wallace had thoughtof the same theory of evolution Darwin did, but it was Darwin whogathered the mass of supporting evidence--on domestic animals andplants, on variability, on sexual selection, on dispersal--that sweptmost scientists before it. It's hardly necessary to mention that thebook is still controversial: Darwin's remark in his conclusion that"Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history" is surelythe pinnacle of British understatement. --Mary Ellen Curtin ... Read more

Customer Reviews (93)

Changed the World Forever
Of course this is one of the landmark books in history.Completely turned biological science on its head and spawned science vs. religion debates that continue to this day.I love the one star reviews.This is one of the towering books in history, it's not meant to be entertainment.How about at least a 2nd star for its historical importance?

For Favoured Races Only
The shockwaves from the publication of this book still resound today.The full title of the book is "On the Origin of Species By Means Of Natural Selection or Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life" by Charles Darwin and it was first published on November 24th of 1859.The importance of the work was not in the originality of the idea; the idea of evolution had been a theory long before as Darwin discusses in the text, nor was Darwin the only scientist at the time to arrive at the theory, as a paper by Alfred Wallace arrived the same year as Darwin's.What made "The Origin of Species" so significant was the way Darwin discusses the theory, and that it was not written just for scientists, but for everyone.This makes it a work of Literature as well as one of Science.

Another key aspect to "The Origin of Species" is that it has completely changed the focus of the subject from the point of its publication until now and undoubtedly will do so for some time to come.It is still the dominate point of reference in the argument between those who oppose the theory and those who support it.Those on both sides of the argument (and I use the term argument because the term discussion would lead one to believe that the discourse is much more civil than it actually is) would do well to emulate Darwin in the way he discusses his theory.

"The Origin of Species" in many ways sets the standard for scientific argument.Though again Darwin did not create the standard with this book, the significance of the work and the readability of the book make it stand out as an example of the correct way to present and defend a theory.Of course Darwin presents facts which support his theory, but it is his discussion of problems with the theory which is the strength of the book and his theory.Darwin admits he doesn't have answers to all of the issue, and he offers ways to prove his theory wrong or at least force a significant adjustment to the theory.

It is interesting that the issues with Darwin's theory and the methods of proving it wrong are in many ways unchanged.There will always be gaps in the fossil record, and there will probably always be questions of reducibility, but that doesn't mean that there isn't more evidence to support the theory than there ever has been, there is a lot more which has strengthened the theory, and the key point is that there hasn't been any evidence found to disprove the theory.And with regards to species being fixed, the scientific argument has long been over, though one can still find non-scientists who would argue the point.

"The Origin of Species" remains an important work of science and literature today.Understanding Darwin's theory is necessary to understanding the political discussions and ramifications that continue to take place.It also serves as a great guide to understanding what a scientific discussion is and how it works, and by contrast how it differs from a political, social, or theological discussion.It should go without saying that "The Origin of Species" gets five stars, and the introduction by John Burrow enhances the experience by putting it in the context of Darwin's life, and the times in which it was written and published.I was a little surprised that the Penguin Classics edition didn't include any notes on Darwin's text, but it does include a bibliography of Darwin's works.Also, while the text included is from the first edition of the book, it does include "An Historical Sketch" and a Glossary which were in later editions.

Profound ideas, unfortunately wrapped in excrutiating boredom
This is a book that you hear about your entire life, but don't know anyone who actually read it. Now, after reading it, I think it has been taken out of context on so many levels by so many agenda-driven factions.

In regards to the writing style- it is incredibly boring- and I don't mean that derogatory towards Darwin. He did a fine job writing- it was simply subject matter that could get a bit monotonous. The bookends are the most interesting, the middle is as mundane as paint drying, and if you can't invest in nearly 500 pages- the last chapter does a wonderful job at summation.

I was disappointed when I found out that the last sentence of this copy had been edited from the original. It makes me wonder how much more was edited...as well as books in general being edited from their original versions. One reason I prefer not to buy a kindle.

The most enjoyable thing about this book is that it made me question...in fact I wrote on nearly every page. There are many things that I don't think Darwin considered, but at least he had the humility to state his ignorance. He is simply offering a theory- one in which- I have no problem accepting in broad terms. There are so many things that we humans are ignorant of- and I don't think we're anywhere close to solving the mystery of life. But if physics, chemistry, and the like all work through "laws"- then I see no fault in believing that biology would work through "laws" as well.

Darwin wasn't making any political, social, or metaphysical conclusions. Unfortunately, lines have been drawn by warwagers wielding this book as their weapon of demagoguery on every side of the argument.

Pleased
I am very happy with the arrival of my books, they came sooner than expected. My children loves the books. They are smaller and easier to understand incomparison to the classic verision.

diagram missing
Darwin refers to a diagram containing his ideas about evolution, but it is missing from the Kindle version that I downloaded. ... Read more

Product Description
Early hominids lived in an animal harmony with nature, free of the existential suffering we Homo sapiens experience. Evolutionary changes to our ancestors' bodies and brains endowed us with an increased capacity for creative productivity and the discontent that comes with disconnection from our environment. This duality of our evolution sets us apart from other species and inspires our most profound intellectual and spiritual yearning.Science and spiritual practice have long been considered mutually exclusive, and yet they are both methods of investigating the universe in which we live. Dismantling Discontent offers a provocative perspective on our existential suffering from the metaphorical viewpoints of Darwin and Buddha, synthesizing their two approaches-science and meditation-into a powerful union and shattering previous assumptions about the incompatibility of these two very different ways of knowing. His daring, grounded in years of solid research and sincere practice, has cleared the path to an inspired new "middle way" for us humans to be at greater peace with our selves, each other, and the world in which we live. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

An apologia for Buddhism
Haven't read this but it looks like an apologia for Buddhism, that synthesizes and reconciles religion and science.That's fine, and you'll also find the same enlightened writing for various other religions, like certain forms of Christianity (Apostolic and Catholic, but not Orthodox) and certain liberal forms of Judaism, but not yet Mormonism or Islam.All in all a good book I'm sure.I'll put it on my "to read" list.

Thank you, thank you
I am more grateful to Charles Fisher than I can say for writing this rich, open-minded book. I have been practicing Buddhist meditation for two years but still have questions like: What does it mean to be fully human? Is meditation "an unnatural act"? How does meditation change a person and, more specifically, a person's brain? Fisher didn't answer all my questions -- in particular, on the subject of brain-change, he concludes that despite the Dalai Lama's interest, there's still very little sound scientific evidence -- but he gave me a new framework for thinking about Buddhism and meditation plus a good deal of knowledge from science and his own experience meditating and engaging with the natural world. I am especially grateful to have learned about "antagonistic pleiotropy," which occurs when a gene or genes express multiple traits -- some advantageous, some not so. For example, the human speech apparatus, a boon to our species, has a downside: It's easier for us to choke or drown. Fisher suggests that similarly the genes that created human consciousness, which enables us to better use the past to plan for the future, also set us up for uniquely human discontent, or suffering. And so we meditate....

Tricycle Winter 2007-Darwin's Dharma/Meditating on Evolution
Felix Holmgren reviews for Tricycle."Evolutionary theory is science when science is having a really good day. Born out of the patience and curiosity of generations of naturalists, it is far more down-to-earth than any other major scientific theory, yet it is endlessly surprising and provocative. Its core ideas are simple enough for anyone to grasp with a little effort, yet their implications reach deep into our lives. Something similar may be said of meditation. It, too, begins with an acknowledgment of the earthiest, fleshiest, facts of life: the absolutely plain and inescapable reality of one's own body and breath. It, too, confronts something exceedingly complex (the tangled mess of our minds) by means of a few simple principles and the discipline of adhering to them. It, too, makes possible a much clearer and more realistic understanding of the predicament of being alive and having to die.

The meditation teacher, nature lover, and former sociology professor Charles Fisher is clearly onto something valuable, then, when, in Dismantling Discontent: Buddha's Way Through Darwin's World, he takes it upon himself to map the territory where evolutionary theory and meditation--Darwin and Buddha--overlap and meet. His effort is a welcome departure from the bulk of writing about science and Buddhism, which tends to sail off into the lofty realms of electron clouds and brain synapses, quickly losing sight of the boring and very sad business of old age, sickness, and death. Fisher, by contrast, treats all the accumulated knowledge of the biological sciences as a resounding affirmation of the Buddha's declaration that disappointment, pain, and apprehension of pain accompany all human activity like a shadow. Fisher is convinced that every shred of scientific evidence he picks up and passes on to his readers can and should be absorbed in a very personal manner, as a piece of a puzzle that will eventually make life more intelligible and bearable. His interest in Buddhism follows a similar pattern: he's not in it for the philosophy and mind-boggling cosmologies, but for the butt-to-the-cushion, attention-on-your-breath discipline of meditation, which can alleviate the gory mess evolution has created for us.

Fisher is admirably determined not to settle for any fixed conclusions about what nature or evolutionary theory has to teach us. He is equally aware of nature's dark and cruel sides ("Cannibalism occurs among shark embryos who swim about in their mother's uterus") and the beauty and benevolence that seem also to be part of it. Fisher's thinking appears to be founded on the desire to see things from several perspectives simultaneously, and the more the better.

In keeping with this inclination, much of Dismantling Discontent's argument is rooted in a concept of ambivalence on the level of DNA, that of antagonistic pleiotropy. This term refers to the situation in which genes endow an organism both with advantages that make it more "fit" and undesirable traits that tend to make it vulnerable. According to Fisher, human beings' intelligence and linguistic capabilities can be viewed as an instance of antagonistic pleiotropy. Our superior communicative and social skills and our capacity to analyze the present and plan for the future have endowed our species with unique tools for survival, but they have also created a new set of physical and mental problems. The most pervasive of these is the compulsive mental chatter that beset humans at all times and the discontent it generates. Likewise, on the material side, every step human civilization takes seems to bring with it a host of new problems equal or greater in number than those of previous generations. It is especially fascinating to read Fisher's account of the new kinds of infection, malnutrition, and damage from monotonous work humans experienced as they went from being hunter-gatherers to practicing agriculture. Today, longer life expectancy often means more drawn-out and lonely deaths. Fisher is not overly gloomy or reductive about civilization. He does not want to return to the Stone Age but nevertheless observes that there "is no retreat. New ways of living lead to new ways of dying."

This is how Fisher brings science and Buddhism together. Science agrees with the Buddha that the "coarse" sufferings of old age, sickness, and death are and always will be among the few certainties of human life. Likewise, Fisher makes a case that it is possible to give a scientific account of how the subtler suffering of continuously oscillating hope and fear is an inseparable aspect of the human mind's thinking and planning. The Buddha's great contribution, according to Fisher, was that he discovered a way to face and overcome both coarse and subtle suffering rather than trying to run away from them.

It is a pity that Fisher has not been able to combine his appreciation of multiple viewpoints and surprising conclusions with a greater measure of patience and attention to detail. In order to recognize the subtle and complex issues arising out of evolutionary theory, one must first have a sound understanding of the fundamentals, and this Fisher does not provide. His presentation of adaptation, fitness, and selection barely skims over essential topics. Expressions like "natural selection" and "survival of the fittest" get juggled around precariously, but at no point does the author give an adequate account of the relationship between genotype and phenotype or the statistical laws that govern the diffusion of inheritable traits. In general, Fisher too often substitutes for solid, basic explanations an endless stream of information snippets, apparently convinced that a whole bigger than the single parts will emerge out of this steady flow of factoids. But it doesn't, and for long stretches the book reads like the trivia section of a popular science magazine. An example:

Some beetles that can't eat live for a year. Other species have anatomical deficiencies. Male mosquitoes, blackflies, and midges eat only nectar sugars and cannot live on them very long. For mammals, aging is synonymous with senescence. The longest-lived animal is Homo sapiens.

There is a lot of this, and it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that Fisher has not put nearly as much effort into the writing process as he has put into his research. The text's flaws range from grammatical to factual and stylistic ones; unfortunately, the editors have done little to rid it of even its most basic errors.

Despite all this, Dismantling Discontent is a book of great energy; however, it is an energy not rooted in the plethora of facts and quotes the author musters to make his point, but in the presence one senses of a person who has allowed himself to be deeply touched by nature, meditation, and science. The impact left by pages reporting the life expectancy of bats, cats, rats, and gnats is insignificant compared to the brief allusions Fisher makes to his own experiments in life's lab. I would have loved to hear more, for example, about the ranting recluses who made him their captive audience in the Arctic and the Everglades, or how he spent his time "calculating how much money Lucille Ball made every second" to stave off boredom while working in a typewriter factory.

Or consider a sentence like this: "Attending to your jaws as they come down on meat or roots will give an idea of how our eating apparatus was made to tear raw meat and grind gathered plants." Here we have it all: the beginning of science and the beginning of meditation, knowing oneself to be the coincidental yet inevitable product of an immeasurably long sequence of causes and effects. Fisher reports that, besides writing Dismantling Discontent, he has been working on a book dealing with the less scientific dimension of his journey, called Meditation in the Wilds. If that book concerns itself less with what various psychologists, biologists, and meditation teachers have said or written and more with what Fisher has discovered by paying attention to life, it just might be the better for it."

Felix Holmgren is a journalist, filmmaker, and math teacher who lives in Sweden and Nepal.

Are You Ready For This Book?
I was not well prepared for the forceful impact this book had on my thinking and long-held values and beliefs.Fortunately, I like having my ideas challenged; it's good to be "corrected" when there's a clear "payoff": the payoff is no longer having to labor under false notions. (It's mainly the ego which takes the hit.)
Some of the new insights for me involve better appreciation of what Darwin was about.Darwin's "failure"was less about being wrong in theory, but more about failing to reconcile shortcomings and personal disappointments in his own life. (He was not very happy, period.) With all the prodigious work and attention focussed on nature, it's not surprising Darwin had no energy left for examining his inner nature.And that would be a lot to ask - but interestingly enough, this kind of "inner search" - scientific in its own right, was already accomplished centuries before thanks to the historical Buddha.Wisdom can also be a source of happiness, to put it in my words!Now, we might ask, why has it taken so long for anyone to see the paralellhere?This is the author's first stroke of brilliance.
As for the benefits to befall those who are familiar with the Buddha's teachings and who already have a grasp of how to "reduce suffering" - by gaining a truer picture of how we as a species fit into nature and belong to it - these benefits I believe would be enormous.By realizing that even flat worms have feelings, as revealed by their liking to touchone another, one could expand the basis for the Buddha's emphasis on "non-harming".But this doesn't even begin to describe the brilliance of the feat Fisher has accomplished by bringing together a synthesis of what seemed to many as disparate and unrelated endeavors.I found some sections of the book more engaging than others, but throughout the humor and irony of seeing how unevolved much of our thinking is - indeed how irrelevant much of our thinking is as well as counter-productive - well. it's better to hear it "page by page", having an open attitude, open heart as well.
The book has a lot of heart in it, Fisher has given himself over to this book, so that it is both personal and inspired by others' research which the author presents.We may not be "ready" for this book, just as few were ready for Walden at the time it was published.Dismantling Discontent, like the former, is, essentially about awakening...to a deeper realization of who we are and where we might be heading both as species and on an idividual level. ... Read more

Product Description
The Foundations of the Origin of Species - Two Essays written in 1842 and 1844 is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Charles Darwin is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Charles Darwin then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Origins of Darwin's "Origin"
Darwin probably started thinking seriously about "transmutation" on the last stretch of his Beagle voyage in 1836. He certainly opened his first notebook on the subject in 1837, and the idea of natural selection as the mechanism of evolutionary change came to him, after reading Malthus, in 1838.

In 1842 he wrote what he called the "pencil sketch of my species theory", and in 1844 he wrote a fuller and more polished version, which he wanted published in the event of his death.These two essays are reproduced in this excellent book. They show that all the key ideas that Darwin made public in 1859 in "On the Origin of Species" had already been developed by him much earlier.

Anyone who is tempted to take seriously the ridiculous conspiracy theory which claims that Darwin stole the theory of natural selection from Alfred Russel Wallace should read this book. Wallace certainly deserves credit for independently coming up with the same idea, but Wallace himself was always happy to play second fiddle to Darwin. For example, in 1908 Wallace made a speech to the Linnaean Society in which he explicitly defended Darwin's priority, pointing out that "...the idea occurred to Darwin in October 1838, nearly twenty years earlier than to myself (in February 1858); and that during the whole of that twenty years he had been laboriously collecting evidence..."

Darwin seems to have delayed publishing for two reasons. Firstly, he wanted to establish himself as a serious scientist and to accumulate a mass of evidence in support of the theory before going into print. And secondly, he was nervous of the trouble it would stir up, especially in the pre-1850 period when social upheavals and Chartist radicals were associated with the idea of evolution.

This book also shows that an error that Darwin made can also be traced back to these two early essays. Despite coming up with natural selection as the mechanism for evolution, Darwin mistakenly gave a subsidiary role to the Lamarckian idea of the inheritance of acquired characteristics. There are a few Lamarckian lapses in "On the Origin of Species"; and "The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals", for example, is full of them.

Here in the 1844 essay Darwin writes: "There is reason to believe that when long exercise has given to certain muscles great development, or disuse has lessened them, that such development is also inherited."

But why should we expect Darwin's thinking to be perfect? Nothing was known of modern genetics at that time. Darwin is one of my heroes; but he is a flawed hero, and that makes him all the more appealing.

Finally, we can even trace back to the 1842 sketch, almost word-for-word, the well-known ending of "On the Origin of Species". The 1842 version is:

"There is a simple grandeur in the view of life with its powers of growth, assimilation and reproduction, being originally breathed into matter under one or a few forms, and that whilst this our planet has gone circling on according to fixed laws, and land and water, in a cycle of change, have gone on replacing each other, that from so simple an origin, through the process of gradual selection of infinitesimal changes, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been evolved."

Phil Webster
(England) ... Read more

Product Description
Gillian Beer's classic Darwin's Plots, one of the most influential works of literary criticism and cultural history of the last quarter century, is here reissued in an updated edition to coincide with the anniversary of Darwin's birth and of the publication of The Origin of Species. Its focus on how writers, including George Eliot, Charles Kingsley and Thomas Hardy, responded to Darwin's discoveries and to his innovations in scientific language continues to open up new approaches to Darwin's thought and to its effects in the culture of his contemporaries. This third edition includes an important new essay that investigates Darwin's concern with consciousness across all forms of organic life. It demonstrates how this fascination persisted throughout his career and affected his methods and discoveries. With an updated bibliography reflecting recent work in the field, this book will retain its place at the heart of Victorian studies. ... Read more

Product Description
In 1831 a 22-year-old naturalist named Charles Darwin stepped aboard the HMS Beagle as a traveling companion of an equally youthful sea captain called Robert FitzRoy. The Beagle’s round-the-world surveying journey lasted five long years on the high seas. The young Darwin noticed everything, and proved himself an avid and detailed chronicler of daily events on the Beagle and onshore. What Darwin Saw takes young readers back to the pages of his journals as they travel alongside Darwin and read his lively and awestruck words about the wonders of the world.

We follow Darwin’s voyage, looking over his shoulder as he explores new lands, asks questions about the natural world, and draws groundbreaking conclusions. We walk in his footsteps, collecting animals and fossils, experiencing earthquakes and volcanoes, and meeting people of many cultures and languages. We examine his opinions on life in all its forms. We consider the thoughts of this remarkable scientist, who poured his observations and research into his expansive theories about life on Earth. In this exciting and educational account, Charles Darwin comes alive as an inspirational model for kids who think and question the world around them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Excellent book for kids!
Another awesome book I bought for my 8 year old.She gets enough fundamentalist teaching at her mom's so I wanted her to have some science teaching from me and this among other books does the trick!

Fantastic and Inspiring!
This book is so beautifully illustrated that even the very lowest level readers in my classroom were interested and became captivated in turning the pages to see what was next. The format of the information makes it easily accessible for all levels of young people. I found it easy to incorporate into the evolution unit of studies, and serves as a wonderful enrichment activity/sharing opportunity as students can easily find favorite sections or information that is new to them. It is well researched and reveals information not easily found in typical Darwin books. Even the most informed teens and adults can learn something new from this book!

Great Teaching tool!!
As a Fairfax County teacher, our curriculum includes Darwin and his travels. We used this book this year and had great sucess. The students used the fantastic accounts of his adventures and the detailed pictures to paint a picture in their minds. They all loved the story and learned so much!

Through Darwin's Eyes
This book has been a great addition, not only for my home library, but also my school library.I became interested in finding "easy to understand" books about Darwin for children, knowing that there would be a lot of renewed interest in Darwin with the 200 anniversary celebrations.I was incredibly impressed by this non-ficton picture book.Not only are the illustrations beautiful, it is filled with scientific details, snippets from Darwin's journals and letters, and notes of explaination.It is a book that can be read over and over again, finding new things everytime.Darwin becomes human in this book and a great role model.This is one of the most interesting books I have purchased for my school.It was wonderful watching the children pour over its pages and discuss all of Darwin's adventures.I definately recommend this informative book.

Multi-leveled book
I like books that can be read on many levels, that pack a lot of information into a manageable format, books in which new things can be found each time a reader returns to it.WHAT DARWIN SAW is one of those books. Not only is a great deal of information presented in an engaging format, but respect for both subject and reader are evident in the way the book was researched - both text and illustrations.I also appreciate the notes on just how the author/illustrator went about doing her research.It says a lot about how she approaches her work.(And there's a neat personal connection to Darwin which makes it all the more intriguing.)So, just in time for the anniversary of Darwin's 200th birthday - and to get a handle on his contributions for the next generation, this book is highly recommended! ... Read more

Product Description
A continuation of the Explorers series by award-winning author Sandra Markle, Animals Charles Darwin Saw features the many distinct creatures Darwin encountered during his worldwide voyage as a ship's naturalist. Readers will learn how the animals Darwin studied have had a dramatic effect on life today. ... Read more

Product Description
Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species has changed the landscape of religious thought in many ways.There is a widespread assumption that before Darwin, all Christians believed that the world was created some 6,000 years ago over a period of 6 days.After Darwin, the first chapters of Genesis were either rejected totally by skeptics or defended vehemently in scientific creationism.This book tells a very different story.Bringing together contributions from biblical scholars, historians and contemporary theologians, it is demonstrated that both Jewish and Christian scholars read Genesis in a non-literal way long before Darwin.Even during the nineteenth century, there was a wide range of responses from religious believers towards evolution, many of them very positive.Stephen C. Barton and David Wilkinson argue that being receptive to the continuing relevance of Genesis today regarding questions of gender, cosmology, and the environment is a lively option. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A good supplement to the current literature
The chapters in this book are from a series of public lectures sponsored by the Institute of Advanced Studies of Durham University.Eight of the thirteen authors are from Durham University. The chapters (lectures) are:

1. How Should One Read the Early Chapters of Genesis, in which Walter Moberly concludes that Darwin makes no real difference to one's reading of Genesis.
2. Genesis Before Darwin: Why Scripture Needed Liberating from Science, by Francis Watson
3. The Six Days of Creation According to the Greek Fathers, by Andrew Louth, dwells primarily on St. Basil the Great's understanding ofcreation and the cosmos.
4. The Hermeneutics of Reading Genesis after Darwin, in which Richard S. Briggs points out that Darwin's writings coincidentally coincided with the discovery of alternative ancient Near Eastern accounts of creation and floods, which also impacted the interpretation of Genesis.
5. What Difference Did Darwin Make?: The Interpretation of Genesis in the Nineteenth Century, in which John Rogerson makes the points that there was no unanimity about the interpretation of Genesis before Darwin, and that Darwin's works did not radically affect the interpretation of Genesis.
6. Genesis and the Scientists: Dissonance among the Harmonizers, by John Hedley Brooke, which quotes and discusses James Clerk Maxwell's warning of the dangers of "introducing sophisticated and transient theories of science into efforts of harmonization."
7. Science and Religion in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Landscape Art, by David Brown
8. Reading Genesis 1-3 in Light of Modern Science, in which David Wilkinson points out that "the real legacy of Darwin was to push Christians to a deeper engagement with the text of Genesis."
9. All God's Creatures: Reading Genesis on Human and Nonhuman Animals, in which David Clough discusses two possible ways of reconciling the human-separatist view with belief in human evolution but concludes that we need "a reading of Genesis that fully recognizes the relationship of continuity between human beings and other creatures."
10. Evolution and Evil: The Difference Darwin Made, in which Jeff Astley discusses the problems of natural and moral evil and the implications of evolution on Adam's Fall.
11. "Male and Female He Created Them" (Genesis 1:27): Interpreting Gender after Darwin, by Stephen C. Barton
12. Propriety and Trespass: The Drama of Eating, Ellen F. Davis
13. The Plausibility of Creationism: A Sociological Comment, in which Mathew Guest gives an interesting discussion of how and why the claims associated with young earth creationism are viewed as plausible by those who affirm them.

Each chapter has numerous helpful footnotes, and the book has an Index of Modern Authors and a Subject Index.

Overall, this book covered a number of significant topics in the creation-evolution debate and offered possible solutions. It is a good supplement to the current literature.
... Read more

Product Description
This remarkable book brings us an intimate and moving interpretation of the life and work of Charles Darwin, by Ruth Padel, an acclaimed British poet and a direct descendant of the famous scientist.

Charles Darwin, born in 1809, lost his mother at the age of eight, repressed all memory of her, and poured his passion into solitary walks, newt collecting, and shooting. His five-year voyage on H.M.S. Beagle, when he was in his twenties, changed his life. Afterward, he began publishing his findings and working privately on groundbreaking theories about the development of animal species, including human beings, and he made a nervous proposal to his cousin Emma.

Padel’s poems sparkle with nuance and feeling as she shows us the marriage that ensued, and the rich, creative atmosphere the Darwins provided for their ten children. Charles and Emma were happy in each other, but both were painfully aware of the gulf between her deep Christian faith and his increasing religious doubt. The death of three of their children accentuated this gulf. For Darwin, death and extinction were nature’s way of developing new species: the survival of the fittest; for Emma, death was a prelude to the afterlife.

These marvelous poems—enriched by helpful marginal notes and by Padel’s ability to move among multiple viewpoints, always keeping Darwin at the center—bring to life the great scientist as well as the private man and tender father. This is a biography in rare form, with an unquantifiable depth of family intimacy and warmth. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Darwin: A Life in Poems, by Ruth Padel: An Engaging Read
If you are knowledgeable about the life of Charles Darwin, if you know just a bit about Darwin, or if you want to learn about Darwin's life in a truly engaging series of linked poems, this is the book for you.Events of Darwin's life are told using a variety of poetic forms.I read and write poetry, but I would recommend this book even to those who generally steer clear of poetry.Ms. Padel, who is a great granddaughter of Charles Darwin, has done herself and her famous relative proud.Read it.You will enjoy the story and the way she presents it.

Why?
I am in a quandary about how to review this. Having recently read Rita Dove's SONATA MULATTICA, a speculative verse biography of the violinist who inspired Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata, I was interested in this unusual form. And distinguished British poet Ruth Padel, as a direct descendant of Darwin, has a special perspective to offer. A few days ago, I heard the author present her book at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and am now working from a signed copy. Padel is a lively speaker, and her poems flowed in and out of the connecting narrative so smoothly that you often could not distinguish which was which; poetry or prose, it was all her voice. Printed on paper, you see a clear variety of stanzaic forms, but these are mainly visual; any devices of rhythm, rhyme, or assonance that might make these structures audible are subtle indeed. So unlike Rita Dove, whose virtuosity is always in the foreground and whose subject gives plenty of room for imagination and invention, you have to ask why Ruth Padel wrote a verse biography at all? Scarcely as a technical feat, given verse of such reticence. And certainly not to share much new information about a subject whose life, factually speaking, is already so well known.

The answer, I think, lies in the book's smallness: 141 sparsely-filled pages. To write it, Padel had to select. And in doing so, she gives it a personal perspective. It becomes a dialogue between a woman and her several-times-great grandfather, about matters of family life, faith, and obviously shared enthusiasms. Padel may not say much more about the "what" of Darwin, but she certainly tries to address his "why" and perhaps her own.

A major theme of the poems is Darwin's love for his wife Emma, the contrast between her Christianity and his gradual loss of faith, and his concern as the deaths of three of their children bring the theory of survival of the fittest to his own hearth. But the book is not all personal. Padel is also good at describing the discoveries that excited Darwin, and she treats with great sensitivity his relationship with Alfred Russel Wallace, who hit on the idea of natural selection independently to him.

All the same, the book might be better subtitled "NOTES on a Life...". I don't think it would work if you don't already know the main facts. For instance, Padel makes relatively little of the Beagle years, since these are so well served in both memoir (Darwin's own VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE) and fiction (Roger McDonald's novel MR DARWIN'S SHOOTER is especially good at dealing with Darwin's discoveries and subsequent loss of faith). She does, however, annotate her verse freely with marginal notes, giving facts, dates, and citations. She also switches oddly in the poems themselves between factual exposition and personal imagination. The resultant shifts of tone, so effective when the poet was speaking, can have the effect of deflating the verse, making it seem jerky and short-breathed. Only a few of the poems have the sustained lyricism to get beyond this, so readers wanting an explanation of Padel's skyrocketing reputation in England might be better advised to choose one of her other collections, rather than starting with this peculiar hybrid.

DArwin: A Life in Poems
Interesting perspective on this iconic man of science in the last century. The poetic representation on the development of this man's thought through the experiences of his life provides new insights to Darwin, the man. Reality brings this icon down to the level of the common man, giving us all the opportunity for greatness. Good book.

poetic cliche strainingunder its effort to please
Procrustes himself could not have stretched one theme into such thin and cliched poetry.
Not worth further reviewing.

Mark Fyffe MA MD DPhil (Oxon)

A LOVE STORY
This excellent book is a delightful contrast to the majority of books written around Darwin.
an original and emotive manner.
... Read more

Product Description
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. (2nd edition). please visit www.valdebooks.com for a full list of titles ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Science writing at its best
For anyone with an interest in the sciences, Darwin's clear and careful reasoning is an inspiring example of good science writing. He draws from his encyclopaedic knowledge of the natural world and agricultural breeding practices, and puts the pieces of the puzzle together in a humble yet inexorable march toward understanding one of the great mysteries of his age.

Even 150 years on, his words are direct and unpretentious. His arguments are rigorous, and flow directly from the evidence. He even pre-empts counter-arguments with clear and respectful rebuttals.

The proof of the work is in its almost universal influence in modern biology, and more recently in computing. Darwin himself acknowledges that his work is a starting point, and that there would be many further refinements to it by future scientists. Despite the refinements and arguments by experts about the details, the central insights of this book still hold.

In most developed countries, Darwin's ideas are accepted by 90% of common people and scientists alike. Only in America is the book still considered "controversial" to any significant extent.
... Read more

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Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species is the most important and yet least read scientific work in the history of science. Now James T. Costa—experienced field biologist, theorist on the evolution of insect sociality, and passionate advocate for teaching Darwin with Darwin in a society where a significant proportion of adults believe that life on earth has been created in its present form within the last 10,000 years—has given a new voice to this epochal work. By leading readers line by line through the Origin, Costa brings evolution’s foundational text to life for a new generation.

The Annotated Origin is the edition of Darwin’s masterwork used in Costa’s course at Western Carolina University and in Harvard’s Darwin Summer Course at Oxford. A facsimile of the first edition of 1859 is accompanied by Costa’s extensive marginal annotations, drawing on his extensive experience with Darwin’s ideas in the field, lab, and classroom. This edition makes available an accessible, useful, and practical resource for anyone reading the Origin for the first time or for those who want to reread it with the insights and perspective that a working biologist can provide.

Customer Reviews (6)

A passion for Darwin
On the Origin of Species is one of the most elegant scientific books ever published, but reading Darwin with James Costa's annotations adds further to the pleasure -- and the understanding. Costa's notes make Darwin come alive for lay people, teachers and scientists. After all, Darwin was writing for an audience from 150 years ago; Costa takes us back to that era to show how Darwin smartly addressed the issues and concerns of that day, not only for his scientific colleagues, but for the general reading population. The extraordinary efforts behind Darwin's narrative is revealed by Costa:for example, a single sentence on how long a seed can stay alive and float -- important in understanding the capacity of plants to reach remote islands -- required months of study by Darwin.

This information on floating seeds is one of many in James Costa's notes requiring the insights of a modern biologist -- which is what Costa is.And here is a difference from most of the books written about Darwin, which were usually penned by historians of science: they have described in great detail the social context of Darwin's work, but ultimately what Darwin wrote grew in importance because of how it survived scientific scrutiny.Costa shows us that story.

Still, Darwin was just like any other scientist, trying to understand nature as best he could, with the limited information available in his day. Costa also points out the weaknesses in Darwin's arguments, showing how the science of evolution has progressed since 1859.It's this unending growth and maturity, and not any dependence on "the word" of any great historical figure, that gives science its power to send men to the moon or unravel the secrets of the gene and the origin of species.

The introduction and coda sections of this book spell out how Darwin intended to develop his logical arguments; it turns out he didn't live long enough to see all the steps through. Yet throughout the Origin, as James Costa shows us, Darwin's passionate belief in the prospects for unravelling life's great story shines through everything.

good book
so it's easier for you to know what Darwin was thinking by reading the annotation.

the Origin of Species with Insights
I do not always read introductions. I test read, then decide. This time I read the introduction, and it is worth while, because it gets you into the right time, makes you understand what a big step his findings were for Darwin, who was by no means an atheist.
The Origin of Species itself is, of course,The Annotated Origin: A Facsimile of the First Edition of On the Origin of Species in a language that may be a little antiquated for us nowadays. On the other hand it was intended for a scientific audience, and it is still well readable (try reading legal texts). What makes it really great is the accompanying text by James T. Costa. WIth "footnotes" in the right places (right beside the relevant passage in the text, so no bothersome where is it, or even smaller print) he gives insights, explanations and background that provide some "yes, of course", or "I never realized that, thought about that, did not know that" moments. All too often we think about past things from our point of view, forgetting there was no internet, TV.... For instance I would have assumed that Darwin would have known about Gregor Mendel.
I do confess that in parts, like where Darwin explains about species and sub species, I read diagonally.
This book is like a well set table, with food well served, you just sit down and eat.
I just wish there were more books like this, I really enjoyed reading it and found it very interesting.

Reading Darwin carefully
Reading Darwin is far from painful since he does write clearly and often engagingly. The annotations are quite good although as is always the case they can be distracting as one loses the argument by stopping to read the annotations. That said, for anyone with more than a passing interest in evolution, the annotations provide background information and often help to elucidation his complex arguments. I found them most helpful and interesting. They help the reader to see an interesting and creative mind at work which is really the only reason to read Darwin today given modern additions to evolutionary theory. Layout is also quite good. Readers should know that this is the 1st edition (of 6 as I recall). Later editions had non-trivial additions and subtractions, but unfortunately they also soft-peddled some of the more extreme (and often correct) arguments, presumably because he was responding to real and imagined criticism. The general reader shouldn't be bothered by edition issues. I hadn't read Origin of Species in several years, and have enjoyed the experience again, but it takes some real work. Not airplane reading. Although there are much less expensive editions available this is the one to have.

The "Origin" Made Far More Accesible For Ordinary Readers
It's both wonderful and too bad that there are now two such excellent versions of "On the Origin of Species" competing for non-specialist readers: this one and the lavishly-illustrated version edited by David Quammen (which see).

Professor James T. Costa, who edited this book and prepared the excellent annotations, is a biologist himself and an insightful student of Darwin. This very useful book makes the "Origin" far easier to understand for the general reader.It presents a facsimile of the first edition of Darwin's classic volume (accepted as the most passionate and unalloyed version of Darwin's original views, compared to the five versions that he oversaw subsequently) in a broad format: on each page, the text is on one hand and lying next to it is commentary and interpretation by Professor Costa. Darwin's writing is precise and clear but the lay reader often has questions - or would, if we knew what to ask - that are answered in the annotations. The result is a handsome edition with thought-provoking insights that vastly enhance the reader's interest and understanding. Each comment is keyed to the pertinent place in the text to which it refers by the use of an arrow and the comments provide a gloss, as it were, on those passages. Costa summarizes, explains and points out what is coming up, indicates where the same themes or ideas reappear, offers valuable context or present-day perspectives on what Darwin is saying, and so forth. These annotations are not necessarily just brief remarks but are often substantive, meaty, and very worthwile. They make the original text resonate in ways that no one but an expert would necessarily have anticipated. The result is a far more rewarding book than the "Origin" would be alone, and that is saying something.

To take just one small example, Costa explains what may puzzle many readers, namely, why Darwin starts out with a discussion of plants and animals under domestication.His comments reduce the confusion people feel (I know I did, initially) when they start reading, thus making it likelier that general readers will not be confused and put off by the book from the outset. The reader is thus helpfully guided through Darwin's seminal work by a companionable expert.

Costa has prepared a worthwhile introduction in which he discloses his ambition that this edition will help to persuade modern students to read Darwin's original book, thereby enhancing understanding (and preventing misunderstanding) of evolution.He also laments and is perplexed by the fact that Americans seem so inclined to litigate over whether such widely accepted science can be taught in public schools.I gather he hopes by this edition to forestall some of the misunderstanding that can give rise to such litigation.

I hope Costa succeeds.

A set of biographical notes helps readers understand Darwin's references to other people and indicates where in the text one will find those references. I also inspected the bibliography/references and found it substantial and helpful, if a bit on the individualistic side. There is an index as well.

This is an attractive volume, stylishly presented by Harvard University's Belknap Press. There are no illustrations or diagrams apart from those found in the original first edition, however. The price is reasonable. Although I already have several editions of "On the Origin of Species," I was quick to buy this one. As a non-specialist, I have found the annotations extremely useful, informative, and even entertaining. ... Read more

Product Description
In a chest of drawers bequeathed by his grandmother, author Randal Keynes discovered the writing case of Charles Darwin's beloved daughter Annie, who died at the age of ten. He also found the notes Darwin kept throughout Annie's illness, the eulogy he delivered at her funeral-and provocative new insights into Darwin's views on nature, evolution, and the human condition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Family Of Man
This is an insightful, up close and personal inside view of the Darwin family, a very human family with all the same conflicts, triumphs and tragic downs that befall the human family as it navigates the vicissitudes of life. Darwin himself is always a leader of a team whether domestic or scientific. He extends a compassion and wisdom that is both heart warming and enlightening,only available to view because an insider like Randal Keynes, the author and great great grandson of this magnanimous homosapien sapien is so gracious to share with the world. Darwin himself was too humble to put on airs, in fact, he was self deprecating at times,deeply concerned about the effect his theory would have on his fellow man.It's a story of a man torn in many ways,who doesn't really feel the triumph he created.This history book is a must for novice and scholar alike.

A Remarkable Man and an Even More Remarkable Father
I picked this up initially to add to the background info. I impart to my students about evolution.While there is some scientific information, it is more about Darwin the man.At a time when aristocratic parents in England rarely saw their children until they were adults, Darwin was an involved compassionate parent who documented all of his children's scientific milestones as well as daily anecdotes like their smiles or amusing remarks.I knew before I read it that several of his children had not lived to adulthood, but that did not stop me from tearing up when reading of his daughter Annie's death at the age of ten.He blamed himself for what he perceived as physical weakness in his children because his wife was, in fact, his first cousin.I came away with a new appreciation for a man I had always admired, but now revere as one of the greatest fathers who has ever lived as well as one of history's most notable scientists.

THERE ARE MEN TOO GENTLE.....
There is a book, and a poem, titled "There Are Men Too Gentle To Live Among Wolves" and this kept flashing through my head as I read this wonderful, illuminating portrait of a man almost too sensitive for his own good.He ADORED his wife and children, and when his little Annie died he almost did, too, of a broken heart.Probably because he was a scientist and therefore dealt pretty much with specifics, he was able to survive his disappointments and explore the most enlightening of subjects, the animal/human species.How lucky we are to be the beneficiaries of his life-long work.

This book, like "Darwin and his Dogs" before it, is another primer on Darwin.There is quite a bit of scientific detail, but never enough to become overwhelming and always tempered with his most human nature.Was Darwin a hypochondriac?Or did he suffer from ailments not classifiable or treatable at the time of his life?We will probably never have answers to those questions, but can only be grateful that he overcame them to an extent that he lived a rich, loving and rewarding life.

Charles Darwin is probably the most loving and lovable of all the so-called great men (and women) of history I have read about.He was also quite humble.We know a lot about him as a person because of the voluminous correspondence and diaries left behind by him and other members of his family and friends, both in and out of the scientific community.This is remarkable reading and I can't help but think that current, and most likely future, generations will not leave such auspicious information because the computer age (twittering and thumb-writing) does not contain detail or feeling of thought that written correspondence facilitates.

I loved this book.I cried when he suffered through Annie's last days, brave though she was.At the same time, I remain sufficiently interested in Darwin's work to search out yet more books by/about him and his large family.I have a stack of them and am anxious to continue my reading.I want to mention one in particular that I recently bought from my local bookstore: Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species: A Graphic Adapation by Micheal Keller, Illustrated by Nicolle Rager Fuller.The text and fabulous drawings make the subject even more knowable and interesting and I would recommend it to anyone who remains shy of scientific writings.

A unexpected surprise
I read this book, because I was going to meet its author and I was prepared for a very boring book, which is certainly not the case. Keynes is a very good author and he did a lot of recherche to write it. It is amazing, at least it was to me, to discover that everyone, even the children, wrote diaries and letters, almost every day and Keynes has made a very charmig selection to demostrate how his great grandfather could escape religion and become able to elaborate the Theory of Evolution.

Wonderful Father
I've only read "The Origin of the Species" and had basic knowledge about about Darwin's life, but after reading this book, I came away appreciating him more as a real person, a real human being, and a wonderful father.This book should display prominently during father's day in your favorite or local book store.It would make a wonderful father's day present.There's a lot more to know about this extraordinary human being and am not claiming as a reader that this book is it, because it focuses mainly on Annie Darwin, his ten year old daughter who died of a long painful illness and as the author have researched, of the complications of TB.What's amazing is that even thought in the face of such sorrow, he never reverted back to god or prayer but rather he just concentrated on keeping his little girl comfortable, reading to her, telling her how brave she is and being ever so greatfulto have such a lovely daughter.There are also glimpses of Darwin asa fun dad.He took his kids on nature walks and he let them be kids, happy and rambunctious which was probably unusual in Victorian England. I urge you to read this beautifully written book specially if you'rea Darwin fan.It can really add to your appreciation of who Darwin really was as someone extraordinary and utterly human. ... Read more

Product Description
Darwin's Camera tells the extraordinary story of how Charles Darwin changed the way pictures are seen and made.

In his illustrated masterpiece, Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1871), Darwin introduced the idea of using photographs to illustrate a scientific theory--his was the first photographically illustrated science book ever published. Using photographs to depict fleeting expressions of emotion--laughter, crying, anger, and so on--as they flit across a person's face, he managed to produce dramatic images at a time when photography was famously slow and awkward. The book describes how Darwin struggled to get the pictures he needed, scouring the galleries, bookshops, and photographic studios of London, looking for pictures to satisfy his demand for expressive imagery. He finally settled on one the giants of photographic history, the eccentric art photographer Oscar Rejlander, to make his pictures. It was a peculiar choice. Darwin was known for his meticulous science, while Rejlander was notorious for altering and manipulating photographs. Their remarkable collaboration is one of the astonishing revelations in Darwin's Camera.

Darwin never studied art formally, but he was always interested in art and often drew on art knowledge as his work unfolded. He mingled with the artists on the voyage of HMS Beagle, he visited art museums to examine figures and animals in paintings, associated with artists, and read art history books. He befriended the celebrated animal painters Joseph Wolf and Briton Riviere, and accepted the Pre-Raphaelite sculptor Thomas Woolner as a trusted guide. He corresponded with legendary photographers Lewis Carroll, Julia Margaret Cameron, and G.-B. Duchenne de Boulogne, as well as many lesser lights. Darwin's Camera provides the first examination ever of these relationships and their effect on Darwin's work, and how Darwin, in turn, shaped the history of art. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A fun read, even for someone (like me) who knows relatively little about Darwin and early photography
I'm not a Darwin expert, nor did I know a whole lot about early photography before taking a look at this book, but a quick flip through these pages drew me in right away. The photos are amazing, and the writing is clear and interesting. Who knew Darwin was a such an important guy even beyond the Origin of Species? Good stuff!

NY Times Holiday Gift Guide selection
This book was chosen as one of the best art and architecture books of 2009 by the NY Times. 'It's hard to find a new angle on Charles Darwin, but "Darwin's Camera: Art and Photography in the Theory of Evolution" does just that. Phillip Prodger shows how early photography advanced the agenda of Darwin, whose "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals" (1872) was one of the first scientific texts to use photographic illustrations. Darwin wasn't much of a photographer himself, but he corresponded with artists and searched London shops, studios and museums for images that would help him identify universal facial expressions. He was looking for the kind of stop-action sequences later pioneered by Muybridge, but made do with the less systematic (and often manipulated) shots of Oscar Rejlander. The writing can be dry at times, but it's enlivened by asides on physiognomy in art going back to the Renaissance -- and, by many pictures of expressive faces.' NY Times ... Read more

Product Description

Charles Darwin, the Copley Medal, and the Rise of Naturalism, 1862—1864, thrusts students into the intellectual ferment of Victorian England just after publication of The Origin of Species.

Part of the “Reacting to the Past” series, this text consists of a game in which students experience firsthand the tension between natural and teleological views of the world--manifested especially in reconsideration of the design argument commonly known through William Paley’s Natural Theology or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity (1802).

Note: Reacting to the Past has been developed under the auspices of Barnard College.  It won the Theodore Hesburgh Award (2004), funded by the TIAA-CREF, for pedagogical innovation, and it has also received substantial support from the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) of the U.S. Department of Education.  With this support, Barnard College hosts a series of conferences throughout the nation at which interested faculty and administrators learn about “Reacting” by playing miniversions of the games.

Product Description
One snowy day in Ushuaia, Argentina, the self-proclaimed "southernmost city in the world," writer Eric Simons picked up a copy of Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle. He had just hiked the mountains overlooking Beagle Channel, and found himself engrossed in Darwin's account.

Like Simons, Darwin was in his mid-twenties when he traveled to South America. Simons followed Darwin further into the continent-to stand where Darwin had, and to explore the histories, legends and people that had fascinated the great scientist two centuries before. He trekked to as many of the locations Darwin wrote about as he could find, to see if he could view these places through Darwin's eyes, and to learn what South Americans know about Darwin.

Innovative and amusing, Darwin Slept Here offers a new look at a familiar subject, by a fresh, compelling writer to watch. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Disappointing account -
As a dedicated non-fiction reader and frequent traveller in Patagonia I was disappointed with this light travel log.Simons had a creative idea, to travel in Darwin's footsteps to get a sense of the man, but executed it poorly.Rather than add insight to help the reader understand modern day life in Southern Argentina and Chile, Simons is satisfied to view the poor villages he visits with the eyes of a Californian suburbanite; mocking the scene and the inhabitants with shallow sarcasm.Although referring to Darwin's encounters with iguanas & finches, the book awkwardly stops short of following Darwin to the Galapagos.If you want insight to the early life of Charles Darwin, I recommend simply reading The Voyage of the Beagle which is a charming and very readable account of his 5 year adventure.

Darwin Rocks
Simons provides a refreshing view of Darwin as a curious young adventurer.The book is filled with insight, humor and a writing style that keeps the reader hooked and laughing.A new look into the early life of Darwin and not the stuffy old man that we all think of today.An excellent book for us non-historians and a real page turner.I would recommend it to anyone with an eye for adventure and travel.Loved it!

Quick, Solid Read
This book is equal parts travelogue and science history. Those who enjoyed Royte's Tapir's Morning Bath will get along fine, travelling alongside Simons as he retraces (not exactly, but to a certain degree) Darwin's path through modern-day Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. There is an excellent balance between the history of Darwin's voyage and the present-day travels. The truly remarkable thing is how most of the people he meets are versed in Darwin. There are times when Simons' observations are a bit too idyllic, but the use of hyperbole is almost unavoidable when confronted with the majesty of a raw, native rainforest. He also spends a bit too much time focussed on how much like a "gringo" he and his periodic travel companions appear. All in all, a pleasant read.

Entertaining education
I have little science background, instead choosing to focus on art and design for most of my life. This book has taught me little facts about science, nature, and history, giving me a new appreciation for Darwin and a greater understanding of the culture of South American countries. The relaxed writing style is inviting, as if a friend is narrating a story, and this story is adventurous, intriguing, and inspires me to step outside my comfort zone and explore a new, old world. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1896.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
Although his name has become a household word after hepublished The Origin of the Species, a one-volume editionof his writings that covers the full gamut of his theoreticalas well as scientific writings has not been available formany years. Charles Darwin: An Anthology, covers theheart of the five books for which the author is best known.This readable volume includes The Autobiography, TheVoyage of the Beagle, The Origin of the Species, The Descentof Man, and The Expression of the Emotion.The volume also includes parts of Darwin’s less well-knownworks. Although it was published last chronologically,The Autobiography is an ideal beginning to thevolume. A new introduction by the noted anthropologistLionel Tiger underlines the continuing importance ofDarwin’s thinking, and explains why it still influencescontemporary scholarship in many fields.These selections have not been rewritten-they arepure Darwin. The dull and the unessential have beeneliminated. What remains is material that best illustratesDarwin’s most important and interesting ideas. The selectionmanages as well to retain his most readable prose,while presenting the fundamentals of Darwin’s revolutionarythought. Collectively, the volume paints a picture of animmensely curious and indefatigable mind. This volumealso includes a critical bibliography that will prove valuableto those interested in further reading. ... Read more