On this day in 1859: British naturalist Charles Darwin’s book ‘On the Origin of Species’ was first published in London, and sold out its initial print run on the first day.
On this day in 1859: British naturalist Charles Darwin’s book ‘On the Origin of Species’ was first published in London, and sold out its initial print run on the first day.
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**On the Origin of Species** (or, more completely, **On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life**), first published on 24 November 1859, is a work of scientific literature by Charles Robert Darwin (1809 – 1882) that is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology.
Darwin’s book introduced the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection. The book presented a body of evidence that the diversity of life arose by common descent through a branching pattern of evolution.
Charles Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution.
His proposition that all species of life have descended from common ancestors is now widely accepted and considered a fundamental concept in science.
In a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.
Depicted: Title page of the 1859 edition of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species.
Respect ! He was great man.
Darwin was sitting on natural selection *for decades*, I will point out that the reason why he published it was because [Alfred Wallace](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Russel_Wallace) came out with Natural selection independently, and he mailed his ideas/draft paper to Darwin in 1858 or so. Darwin publushed his own and Wallace work in 1858, followed by his book in 1859, meanwhile Wallace was somewhere in Malaysia or Indonesia living with natives, catching birds and literally had no idea any of this was going on.
Shamefully, two of Darwin’s notebooks, one containing the iconic “Tree of Life” sketch, were officially reported stolen last year, having not been seen since November 2000.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Mhd_CdE928
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hdGTcyYdr8
>naturalist Charles Darwin
Mild shock. Didn’t know he was a nudist, but I have always imagined him as an eccentric professor.
And still 160 years later there are morons who deny evolution by means of natural selection.
Very boring book by the way, don’t bother
This is actually a very readable book. I remember trying to read a few by Charles Babbage, and found the writing style unbearable.
I heard that when it was published, the scandal about it for Victorians had more to do with “Nature is cruel and uncaring”, rather than “where species originated from”. Keep in mind that it was published during the tail-end of Romanticism where nature was thought of as beautiful thing to be revered.
“On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of **Favoured Races** in the Struggle for Life.”
*Cries in Welfare for Asylants, who then have 3+ Kids*