The Origin of Species

As much as anyone in the modern era, Charles Darwin changed the course of human thought. The impact on Western civilization of his seminal work has been broad and deep: not only the biological sciences but also social thought, philosophy, ethics, religion, and literature have all been shaped and reshaped by evolutionary concepts. Here, in what Paul Moody (writing in Victorian Studies) has called "a masterly condensation," is a classic edition of Darwin's The Origin of Species . It retains all of the substance of the original book, but only the essential elements of its profuse detail. Philip Appleman, the editor of Darwin, a Norton Critical Edition ("the best Darwin anthology on the market," according to Stephen Jay Gould), has cut deftly to the essence of Darwin's classic, losing none of the continuity or flavor of the original and making available an edition that modern readers will not find overpowering. This revision includes a new introduction by Professor Appleman that perceptively traces Darwin's influence on the world of ideas as well as three additional chapters from Darwin's work.