Evolutionary Writings: Including the Autobiographies

The wide-ranging Introduction by James A. Secord, Director of the Darwin Correspondence Project, explores the global impact and origins of Darwin's work and the reasons for its unparalleled significance today. To increase its usefulness for readers coming to Darwin for the first time, the selection also includes a map of the Beagle voyage, a detailed chronology of Darwin's life, and a biographical appendix identifying every individual mentioned in the text.

This unique anthology brings together a marvelous collection of Darwin's most accessible and significant writings, providing the most fully rounded picture of his ideas to be found in a single volume. This marvelous book presents readers with the key chapters of his most important books, including excerpts from the Journal of Researches on the Beagle voyage (1845), the Origin of Species (1859), and the Descent of Man (1871), along with the full, authoritative text of Darwin's delightful autobiography Recollections. These writings are accompanied by generous selections of responses from Darwin's nineteenth-century readers, providing a keen sense of the original controversy sparked by his ideas. The wide-ranging Introduction by James A. Secord explores the global impact and origins of Darwin's work and the reasons for its unparalleled significance today. The book also includes a map of the Beagle's voyage, a biographical appendix identifying everyone mentioned in the texts, illustrations from the Journal of Researches, and an index. This generous collection of Darwin's finest writings will make a superb introduction to ideas that truly changed the world.

Scientist Charles Darwin once asserted that "a scientific man ought to have no wishes, no affections -- a mere heart of stone." Indeed, his objective take on evolution asserted in The Origin of Species shook the foundations of traditional religion to its core.