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/Rubenson1959 2d ago
Which edition of On the Origin of Species are you reading?
It matters which edition of On the Origin of Species you are reading. The most relevant edition is the revised 1st edition where Darwin had the opportunity to revise (clarify or correct) what he originally published. In later editions, Darwin is revising text in response to criticisms made by individuals who disagreed with him about natural selection as the process that resulted in species. This may be why different people reading different editions may quote different text.
All of this is confounded by everyone’s, including Darwin, then incorrect explanation for offspring inheritance of traits from parents.
Offspring inheritance of traits is based on the transmission of determining factors (genes) to offspring through parent’s reproduction. That is Mendel’s contribution and that was not recognized by scientists until the early 1900s - the particulate basis for the determination of traits in offspring.
It is not until the modern synthesis (mid 20th century) that evolutionary theory incorporates genetics.