On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Selection or partial work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- Clean text
- Extent:
- ~170,000 words · 804 passages
Cite this work
- APACharles Darwin. (n.d.). On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/charles-darwin/on-the-origin-of-species-by-means-of-natural-selection
- MLACharles Darwin. "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/charles-darwin/on-the-origin-of-species-by-means-of-natural-selection.
- ChicagoCharles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/charles-darwin/on-the-origin-of-species-by-means-of-natural-selection.
What it is about
How species arise with no one to design them: natural selection — more offspring than survive, small heritable variations, vast time — as the mechanism of all living diversity.
Context and history
Published in November 1859 and sold out on the first day. Darwin had nursed the idea for twenty years, alarmed by its consequences, and only resolved to publish when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him the same theory from Malaysia. He deliberately avoided the human being — 'light will be thrown on the origin of man' is all he wrote — but everyone understood. No book of science has changed so profoundly the way the human species sees itself within nature, and the debate it opened is not yet closed.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
"But with regard to the material world, we can at least go so far as this--we can perceive that events are brought about not by insulated interpositions of Divine power, exerted in each particular case, but by the establishment of general laws." WHEWELL: _Bridgewater Treatise_. "The only distinct meaning of the word 'natural' is _stated_, _fixed_, or _settled_; since what is natural as much requires and presupposes an intelligent agent to render it so, _i.e._ to effect it continually or at stated times, as what is supernatural or miraculous does to effect it for once." BUTLER: _Analogy of Revealed Religion_. "To conclude, therefore, let no man out of a weak conceit of sobriety, or an ill-applied moderation, think or maintain, that a man can search too far or be too well studied in the book of God's word, or in the book of God's works; divinity or philosophy; but rather let men endeavour an endless progress or proficience in both." BACON: _Advancement of Learning_. * * * * * _Down, Bromley, Kent,_ _October 1st, 1859._ (_1st Thousand_). * * * * * ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES BY MEANS OF NATURAL SELECTION, OR THE PRESERVATION OF FAVOURED RACES IN THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. BY CHARLES DARWIN, M.A., FELLOW OF THE ROYAL, GEOLOGICAL, LINNEAN, ETC., SOCIETIES; AUTHOR OF 'JOURNAL OF RESEARCHES DURING H. M. S. BEAGLE'S VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD.' _FIFTH THOUSAND._ LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1860. _The right of Translation is reserved._ * * * * * LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET, AND CHARING CROSS. * * * * * {v} CONTENTS. * * * * * INTRODUCTION Page 1 CHAPTER I. VARIATION UNDER DOMESTICATION. Causes of Variability--Effects of Habit--Correlation of Growth--Inheritance--Character of Domestic Varieties--Difficulty of distinguishing between Varieties and Species--Origin of Domestic Varieties from one or more Species--Domesti