On Evolution

“An excellent selection. There is nothing else like it available in print, and the price makes it very attractive for use in courses. . . . overall the editors did a superb job of choosing those excerpts from Darwin’s published works and his correspondence and notebooks that will give the reader a sense of the full range of his interests and the substance of his ideas. The editorial remarks are . . . perceptive and directly relevant to the content.”
     —Gene Cittadino, New York University

SKU
25723g

The Development of the Theory of Natural Selection

Charles Darwin
Edited, with Introduction, by Thomas F. Glick and David Kohn

1996 - 416 pp.

Grouped product items
Format ISBN Price Qty
Cloth 978-0-87220-286-3
$45.00
Paper 978-0-87220-285-6
$17.00
Instructor Examination (Review) Copy 978-0-87220-285-6
$3.00

Designed for use in a broad range of courses in the humanities, Darwin’s theory is laid out in a concise general Introduction and followed up in short chapter introductions. Each chapter concludes with an excerpt from Darwin’s correspondence, commenting on the work in question, and its significance, impact, and reception. Two short appendixes are included—the first three chapters from Malthus, On Population, which gave Darwin the idea for natural selection and the paper by Wallace that motivated Darwin to abandon the “Big Species Book” and write Origin of Species.

 

Reviews:

“Provides a magisterial overview of all of Darwin’s ideas in a brief and useful format. This book will become the mainstay of the courses I teach related to Darwin.”
     —Timothy Lenoir, Stanford University

 

“An excellent selection. There is nothing else like it available in print, and the price makes it very attractive for use in courses. . . . overall the editors did a superb job of choosing those excerpts from Darwin’s published works and his correspondence and notebooks that will give the reader a sense of the full range of his interests and the substance of his ideas. The editorial remarks are . . . perceptive and directly relevant to the content.”
     —Gene Cittadino, New York University

 

"This is simply an outstanding volume . . . exactly what I was looking for. I especially appreciate the inclusion of the Malthus and Wallace, plus the notebook selections. I don’t know of another Darwin anthology that does this. It fills a real need.”
     —Lynn K. Nyhart, University of Wisconsin

 

Contents:

Introduction.

I. From Journal of Researches, ‘Patagonia,’ 1839; ‘Galapagos,’ 1845.

II. From Notebooks.

III. From Darwin’s Annotations to Lamarck’s Zoological Philosophy, 1809.

IV. From the 1842 Sketch and the 1844 Essay, and Darwin’s View on the Importance of the 1844 Essay.

V. From A Monograph of the Sub-Class Cirripedia, 1851: Introduction; Complemental Males; Darwin Reflects on his Cirrpede Research.

VI. From Natural Selection: The Big Species Book, 1856-58: On the Principle of Divergence; Darwin’s Plans for the “Big Species Book.”

VII. The Abstract of the Theory Sent to Asa Gray, 1857.

VIII. From Origin of Species, 1859: Introduction; ch. 3, The Struggle for Existence; ch. 4, Natural Selection; ch. 6, Difficulties on Theory; ch. 7, Instinct; Conclusion; The Success of the Origin of Species.

IX. From Variation of Plants and Animals Under Domestication, 1868: Introduction; Pangenesis; Troubles with Pangenesis.

X. From The Descent of Man, 2nd ed., 1874: Introduction: “Moral Faculties”; On the Development of the Intellectual and Moral Faculties During Primeval and Civilized Times; Introduction: “Sexual Selection”; Sexual Selection; Wallace on The Descent of Man.

XI. Flowers and Adaptation: from The Various Contrivances by Which Orchids are Fertilized by Insects, 2nd ed., 1877; The Effects of Cross and Self-Fertilization in the Vegetable Kingdom, 2nd ed., 1878; from The Different Forms of Flowers in Plants of the Same Species, 2nd ed., 1878; Lythrum salicaria; The Means by Which Plants May Have Been Rendered Heterostyled; Final Remarks; Conclusions.

XII Autobiography: Introduction; “My Several Publications.”

Appendix 1: Selections from Malthus, On Population.
Appendix 2: Alfred Russel Wallace, “On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type.”
Bibliography. Index.