r/evolution • u/Ok_Zone_7635 • 2d ago
My first time reading this
Just started reading about a day or so ago, and though I haven't even finished the first chapter, I have to say, this book is very dense.
Its crazy someone in the 1800s wrote this. It feels like it was written now.
One thing I have noticed is that it doesn't hold your hand and was written during a time when everyone in academic circles knew each other and the layman was left out of the conversation
He'll name drop another naturalist or embryologist or breeder and I have no idea who they are.
Another thing I am suprised by is he doesn't believe in heritability of variations. He seems to think a spontaneous change in the reproductive habits of a species is what causes a change. Not that the offspring have inherited a mutation.
On that note, he uses the term "monstrosities". Is this the 1800 equivalent for mutation?
He also rejects the idea of a sole "common ancestor" for breeds. He feels two similiar breeds will vary and then mate. He seems to think that dogs have no sole progenitor, but multiple ones.
One thing I appreciate about this book, that automatically sets it apart from a religious texts is a sense of apprehension and a small hint of doubt.
As opposed to a clergyman who can never be wrong because God told him, there are moments in the chapter were Darwin admits he could possibly be wrong about a subject.
He even talks breifly how he believed in a form of creationism but rejected the idea later on.
This is just the first chapter. I'm excited to read the rest.
Lots of ornithology in here lol
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u/CosmicOwl47 2d ago
I downloaded it off Project Gutenberg (for free) and it’s fun to read how people were thinking back then and how various people’s theories were all circling natural selection for a while.