Charles Darwin and The Origin of Species

In 1985, the Italian scientist Antonella La Vergata remarked that the

‘‘Darwin’s-place-in-history approach’’ dominated writing about Darwin
and the development of the theory of evolution before 1960. Darwin
was the colossus who stood above every other scientist in the nineteenth
century when it came to developing a theory about the origin
of life. La Vergata’s argument was that historians and scientists who
used this approach ignored the important contributions made by Darwin’s
contemporaries as well as other scientists who preceded and followed
him. Even worse, this approach ignored the large number of
people to whom Darwin wrote letters either to discuss the research he
was doing or to obtain the answers to questions he had. Darwin should
be viewed as part of a community even if he was the central figure in
this community.1 While acknowledging La Vergata’s criticism, this book

is a Darwin’s-place-in-history book. Darwin’s community of correspondents—
which included scientists,  cattle breeders, explorers, and government officials—was important
but, first and foremost, the story of The Origin of Species is
the story of Charles Darwin’s research and writing. Darwin could not
have written The Origin of Species without the help of many people—
his friends Charles Lyell and Thomas Hooker, for example—but,
ultimately, Darwin was the sole author. An introduction to The Origin
of Species cannot ignore this fact. It is foolish to pay insufficient attention
to the community who helped Darwin and it is equally foolish to
gloss over the singular genius of Darwin.
Darwin covered a large number of subjects in The Origin of Species.
He did not propose every aspect of the theory of evolution, but
Darwin was able to develop his theory because he was proficient in
several scientific disciplines. Without boasting, Darwin could claim
to be an expert in zoology, botany, geology, and embryology. He read
widely and wrote prolifically. His scientific interests ranged from animal
psychology to plant tropism.
Despite the genius of the man and book, it is possible to read
The Origin of Species without having any prior knowledge of zoology
or paleontology or the history of the biological sciences. Darwin’s
argument in the book is clear and easy enough to follow. Darwin
called it ‘‘a long argument’’ in the final chapter, but it is also a
straightforward one.2 Furthermore, Darwin’s intended audience for
The Origin of Species was the general public. He wanted not only
specialists to read the book, but also ordinary people.
Because there were six editions of The Origin of Species published
during Darwin’s life, the question of which is the best edition
to read is an important one. In this book, most of the references will
be to the first edition of 1859. As the British historian John W.
Burrow and the American evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr suggest,
the first edition of The Origin of Species was the cleanest, freshest,
and most revolutionary.3 (And this edition is readily available in the
Penguin Classics book series.)
The edition of 1859 was the result of twenty-plus years of
thinking by Darwin. When Darwin forced himself, under pressure
from his friends and the work of Alfred Russel Wallace, to finish The
Origin of Species he said what he wanted to say. In the next five editions,
Darwin was addressing criticisms of the first edition. By the
time he finished the revised and definitive sixth edition, published in
1876, Darwin was reacting rather than stating: in a sense, he said
what others provoked him to say. Equally important, some of the
concessions Darwin made were unnecessary. For example, scientists
who did research on chromosomes and genes in the late-nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries demonstrated that Darwin was closer
to explaining how and why natural selection worked in the first edition
of The Origin of Species than in subsequent editions. Furthermore,
in Darwin’s other major works, his position on evolution by
natural selection seems closer to the one he took in the first edition.
In the first edition of The Origin of Species, Darwin was as right as
he could be without knowing about genetics.
Charles Darwin is one of the great minds of the last five hundred
years because his work transformed the way humans think
about themselves. His work is important because the discussion
about this transformation and its effects continues today. Given this
debate, it is accurate to call The Origin of Species a seminal work of
world literature. It is equal in importance to the writings of Confucius
or the sayings of the Buddha: it is a must-read book whether or
not the reader agrees with Darwin. Like any genius, Darwin was not
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Preface
always right. As one of Darwin’s biographers put it, we should
‘‘express our admiration and pick our quarrels, discovering his greatness
at one time, his limitations at another.’’4 I hope that readers of
this book will enjoy reading about Darwin and The Origin of Species
as much as I did.

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