Seite - 5 - in The Origin of Species
Bild der Seite - 5 -
Text der Seite - 5 -
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
Charles Robert Darwin, horn at Shrcii'sbiiry, England, on
February 12, 1809, came of a family of remarkable intellectual
distinction which is still sustained in the present generation. His
father tvas a successful physician zvith remarkable powers of
observation, and his grandfather was Erasmus Danvin, the well-
knozvn author of "The Botanic Garden." He went to school at
Shrewsbury, zvhere he failed to profit from the strict classical
curriculum there in force; nor did the regular professional
courses at Edinburgh University, zvhere he spent two years study-
ing medicine, succeed in rousing his interest. In 1827 he was
entered at Christ's College, Cambridge, to study for the B. A.
degree, preparatory to entering the Church; hut zvhile there
his friendship with Henslow, the professor of botany, led to his
enlarging his general scientific knozvledge and finally to his
joining the expedition of the "Beagle" in the capacity of natural-
ist. From this Darzmn returned after a voyage of five years
with a vast first-hand knozvledge of geology and zoology, a
reputation as a successful collector, and, most important of all,
with the germinal ideas of his theory of evolution. The next
few years were spent in working up the materials he had col-
lected; hut his health gave signs of breaking, and for the rest
of his life he suffered constantly, but without complaint. With
extraordinary courage and endurance he took up a life of
seclusion and methodical regularity, and accomplished his colossal
results in spite of the most severe physical handicap. He had
married in 1839, and three years later he withdrczv from London
to the little village of Dozvn, about sixteen miles out, zvhere he
spent the rest of his life. His custom, zvhich zvas almost a
method, was to work till he was on the verge of complete collapse,
and then to take a holiday just sufficient to restore him to zvorking
condition.
As early as 1842 Darwin had thrown into rough form the out-
lines of his theory of evolution, hut the enormous extent of the
inve'stigations he engaged in for the purpose of testing it led
to a constant postponing of publication. Finally in June, 1S5S,
A. R. Wallace sent him a manuscript containing a statement
of an identical theory of the origin of species, which had been
5
zurück zum
Buch The Origin of Species"
The Origin of Species
- Titel
- The Origin of Species
- Autor
- Charles Darwin
- Verlag
- P. F. Collier & Son
- Ort
- New York
- Datum
- 1909
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- PD
- Abmessungen
- 10.5 x 16.4 cm
- Seiten
- 568
- Schlagwörter
- Evolutionstheorie, Evolution, Theory of Evolution, Naturwissenschaft, Natural Sciences
- Kategorien
- International
- Naturwissenschaften Biologie
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 5
- AN HISTORICAL SKETCH of the Progress of Opinion on the Origin of Species 9
- INTRODUCTION 21
- Variation under Domestication 25
- Variation under Nature 58
- Struggle for Existence 76
- Natural Selection; or the Survival of the Fittest 93
- Laws of Variation 145
- Difficulties of the Theory 178
- Miscellaneous Objections to the Theory of Natural Selection 219
- Instinct 262
- Hybridism 298
- On the Imperfection of the Geological Record 333
- On the Geological Succession of Organic Beinss 364
- Geographical Distribution 395
- Geographical Distribution - continued 427
- Mutual Affinities of Organic Beings: Morphology: Embryology: Rudimentary Organs 450
- Recapitulation and Conclusion 499
- GLOSSARY 531
- INDEX 541