Readable Darwin: The Origin of Species as Edited for Modern Readers [Pehme köide]

With the goal of making Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species accessible to high school and college students, as well as other readers, Dr. Jan Pechenik presents the revised, reorganized, clarified, and language-modernized edition of the sixth and final edition of Darwin’s book published in 1872. He includes those issues that Darwin was uncertain about and/or mistaken, as time and science revealed. Pechenik, emphasizing that this volume is still Darwin’s, has eliminated unnecessary words, weak verbs, incorporated definitions into sentences, and used repetition, summary, and appropriate punctuation to link thought and improve the flow of ideas. He also created one-paragraph previews of each chapter and added many illustrations absent from the original book. Annotation ©2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

The Origin of Species is one of the most influential books ever written. Not only has it inspired an incredible amount of scientific research on a remarkable number of different topics, but it laid a foundation for all modern arguments about organismal diversity. It is also a sterling example of scientific thinking at its best. Darwin is very clear about his evidence, but also very clear about the things he doesn't yet understand, even those that might pose problems for his thesis.

Unfortunately, his paragraphs are often very long; the sentences are often unwieldy and difficult for modern readers to follow; and Darwin assumes that his readers know a lot more about the people and organisms he talks about than most modern readers do. Although The Origin is widely known, it is now rarely read.

This new book is the product of careful editing of Darwin's sixth and final edition (published in 1872) into more readable prose, with numerous helpful drawings and photographs added. Dr. Pechenik's goal is to enable more people--including high school and college students'--to read and understand this fascinating and important book, and to enjoy doing so.

Every page of Darwin' s book has been painstakingly rewritten: long paragraphs have been broken up, sentences have been shortened and reorganized, and weak verbs have been replaced with stronger verbs. The various people that Darwin mentions have been identified, and his terminology and the logic of some of his arguments have been clarified, all to make Darwin's points clearer to today's readers while retaining the flavor of the original Origin. In addition, occasional footnotes clarify issues about which Darwin was uncertain or mistaken.

This book covers the first eight of The Origin's fifteen chapters, focusing on variation, the inheritance of variation, and the action of selection in bringing about major changes in the way that organisms look and behave.

RESOURCES

The Companion Website includes all of the links and videos referenced in each chapter of the book.