The Orgin of the Species by Charles Darwin

Type of Work: Natural history text First Published 1859 Complete Title The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection , or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life Book Historical Commentary Charles Robert Darwin, the grandson of the English scientist Erasmus Darwin, studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and prepared for the ministry at Cambridge. Following his abiding interest in natural history, however, he became a naturalist and sailed in this capacity …

…but as lineal descendants of some few beings which have lived long before the first bed of the Cambrian system was deposited, they seem to me to become ennobled. The Origin of Species represents Darwin's many years of personal and intellectual struggle. It is candidly argued and presented in a flowing, orderly manner, then left for each reader to weigh the evidence. As a text on natural history, its ideas are refreshingly comprehensible and insightful.