Darwin's Origin of Species, Paperback

Charles Darwin s foremost biographer, Janet Browne, delivers a vivid and accessible introduction to the book that permanently altered our understanding of what it is to be human. A sensation on its publication in 1859, ``The Origin of the Species ``profoundly shocked Victorian readers by calling into question the belief in a Creator with its description of evolution through natural selection. And Darwin s seminal work is nearly as controversial today. In her illuminating study, Browne delves into the long genesis of Darwin s theories, from his readings as a university student and his five-year voyage on the ``Beagle,`` to his debates with contemporaries and experiments in his garden. She explores the shock to Darwin when he read of competing scientist s similar discoveries and the wide and immediate impact of Darwin s theories on the world. As one of the launch titles in Atlantic Monthly Press Books That Changed the World series, Browne s history takes readers inside ``The Origin of the Species`` and shows why it can fairly claim to be the greatest science book ever published.