The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection

or, The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life

By: Charles Darwin

Narrated by: Robin Field

The Origin of Species sold out on the first day of its publication in 1859. It is the major book of the 19th century and one of the most readable and accessible of the great revolutionary works of the scientific imagination. Though, in fact, little read, most people know what it says—at least they think they do.

The Origin of Species was the first mature and persuasive work to explain how species change through the process of natural selection. Upon its publication, the book began to transform attitudes about society and religion and was soon used to justify the philosophies of communists, socialists, capitalists, and even Germany’s National Socialists. But the most quoted response came from Thomas Henry Huxley, Darwin’s friend and also a renowned naturalist, who exclaimed, “How extremely stupid not to have thought of that!"

Public Domain (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“One of the most important contributions ever made to philosophic science.” ( The New York Times)

An excellent book of monumental importance.

Beautifully written and narrated. Darwin was so incredibly thorough and explained his work and ideas so clearly that it baffles me that there are still people that do not understand them. The narrator does an excellent job - it felt that Darwin himself was speaking to me. I highly recommend this book... it should be in every hotel and motel room draw.

Not exactly easy listening

I'm sure this historically groundbreaking work is essential listening for people studying the subject, but as an interested layperson I should have gone with a more recent work studying the work of Darwin and its impact on our understanding of evolution.
This work is quite a repetitive overview of his research which though interesting, was not exactly easy to listen to and I found my attention wandering during the narration.

I loved the book

it was mostly information already known to me, but it was interesting to hear it from the perspective of first learning it. I absolutely love this author, his voice is perfect for reading books like this.

It is Darwin presenting his most important work

I did not read the book, I listened to the Audible version which was well done. I am not sure I would have finished the book if I tried to read it. There was way too much taxonomy and I am a chemist not a biologist. Listening to the book and I did listen carefully, I was impressed at the detail Darwin put into this book. It is not surprising that it took until 1859 before he felt he had everything in order so that he could publish. It is probably a good think that Wallace prodded Darwin enough that he had the courage to publish which at the time would have been condemned by the bible thumpers in the US of today. I don't think we give Darwin enough credit for the courage it took to do the research needed to support his work on Natural Selection. I my opinion Darwin is one of the most important scientists in human history. The work of Newton, Galileo, Einstein, Rutherford would have been done by someone else. There were and are plenty of hard science types around who would have come up with the discoveries of the physicists and mathematicians. Darwin was looking backwards in time and then postulating how prehistoric creatures would change and then ultimately change the world. It is not everyday that an intellect comes along who can synthesize what is gleaned from the past and project the path the future will take.

Pleasant Listen

This book is charming, informative and historically formative. It's amazing how much Darwin understood about heredity without understanding DNA. I can understand how darker philosophies could be derived from his work and used to justify the destruction of Native American people, and the WW2 holocaust, but I'm not certain if Darwin intended this-he seems to be more science geeky than intentionally political or philosophical. I liked that he uses a Rogerian argument style rather than an atagonistic one.

Loved It

Amazingly clear, not buried in stilted Victorian prose as I had imagined. Superbly read, too. This reading is of the last edition, published in 1872, which contains all of the cogent rebuttals Darwin gave to objections given--most of which were scientific, not theological as is commonly believed.

YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED

YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED to hear what Darwin really did and did not say. Unless you are or were a biology major getting through the details of the species Darwin studied may be tedious for you as it was for me. Neither a scientist nor a lover of botanical studies I found myself -- after several hours of listening -- actually paying attention to the details and the interesting differences between "birds of a feather". Then much of what Darwin wrote about turned into fascinating facts about plants and animals that I never imagined to be fascinating at all. (I should spend a lot more time outdoors or at least looking at photos from people who love plants and animals enough to devote their lives to studying them.) But the best part was listening for the "heresies" that I was taught were promoted by Charles Darwin: they are not in this book. Neither was Darwin the "inventor" of the idea of evolution, nor the only person studying life and coming to similar conclusions. He was the first to publish and that made him a target for abuse. Thank God for audio books! This one gave me a chance to hear the truth and dispel those myths church and society taught me long ago. From here on in, anyone making negative comments about Darwin or evolution in my hearing is going to be confronted with a simple question: "Did you ever read The Origin of Species?" If not, don't talk to me about it until you have.

A must read for anyone interested in lifes origins

Where does The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Near the top...probably in the top 5

Who was your favorite character and why?

Um, is this a trick question...there are no characters in On the Origin of Species, but many animals...I like birds I guess...

What does Robin Field bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He did alright.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I greatly enjoyed this book and wish I would've read it while in college.

Any additional comments?

After reading Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" I can see why its been noted as one of the most significant books ever written - especially when it comes to scientific literature and observation. I've come to realize that many of Darwin's ideas are over emphasized, underestimated, and way ahead of his time.

To my point on being over emphasized, I have heard many assumptions by many people that assume Darwin wrote this book in a way that pushed evolution to being the explanation for all of life's origins. Many of his ideas and observations are either taken out of context or argued in a way that makes it seem like Darwin had all the answers. If people who openly debated evolution actually read this work, they would come to understand that many of his ideas make perfect sense within the context of his observations. He also dedicates a full chapter to problems with his theory - many of which are some of the arguments still made today.

To my point on being underestimated, I think that when people have taken Darwin's ideas out of context they are missing a grander point in that natural selection is a means by which we can explain evolution and change through time. I think that many people also misunderstand Darwin's observations in that he was able to use empirical evidence to support his ideas, which can be easily overlooked by individuals that attack his theory as an "opinion" or theory without explanation.

To my point on Darwin being ahead of his time, I found it extremely interesting that he was able to make predictions about tectonic plates and the movement of the earth's continents that allowed for the geographical distribution of species 50-60 years before scientists began working off of the theory of plate tectonics. I think many of his other observations have since been confirmed regarding inheritance, now that we have the technology to craft phylogentic trees and such - even to the extent of using mitochondrial DNA and rRNA to track ancestry.

Altogether I found this book fascinating and look forward to reading it again. I'll also look forward to checking out his other writings at some point. Part of me wishes I would've read this book in college when I would've had more opportunities to explore his ideas as well as take advantage of professors that could have spoken at great lengths on the subject.

Pros: Truly a classic when it comes to scientific observations and how science should be performed.
Cons: The chapter on hybrids was a bit dry and hard to follow.
Bottom line: Excellent read for anyone interested in life's origins or how there is commonality among life forms.

cool book

cool book but i think this dude is a plagiarist.

everything down to addressing the steelman argument of skepticism around gradual evolution of complex structures like the eyes, i heard first from richard dawkins books

dawkins should sue.

Struggled to finish

This is a classic, but not easy to finish. I am done with classics :)