The Cambridge Companion to the "Origin of Species"

About this book

&i;The Origin of Species&o; by Charles Darwin is universally recognised as one of the most important science books ever written. The Origin of Species is also a work of great cultural and religious significance, in that Darwin maintained that all organisms, including humans, are part of a natural process of growth from simple forms.

This Companion commemorates the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of Species and examines its main arguments. Drawing on the expertise of leading authorities in the field, it also provides the contexts - religious, social, political, literary, and philosophical - in which the Origin was composed.

Written in a clear and friendly yet authoritative manner, this volume will be essential reading for both scholars and students More broadly, it will appeal to general readers who want to learn more about one of the most important and controversial books of modern times.

Contents

1. The origin of the Origin Michael Ruse; 2. Darwin's analogy between natural and artificial selection Mark Largent; 3. Variation and inheritance Robert Olby; 4. Darwin's theory of natural selection and its moral purpose Robert J. Richards; 5. Originating species: Darwin on the species problem Philip Sloan; 6. Darwin's keystone: the principle of divergence David Kohn; 7. Darwin's difficulties Abigail Lustig; 8. Darwin's geology and his perspective on the fossil record Sandra Herbert and David Norman; 9. Geographical distribution Peter Bowler; 10. Classification Richard Richards; 11. Embryology and morphology Lynn K. Nyhart; 12. Darwin's botany in On the Origin of Species Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis; 13. The rhetoric of the Origin of Species David Depew; 14. 'Laws impressed on matter by the Creator'? The Origin and the question of religion John Hedley Brooke; 15. 'Lineal Descendants': the Origin's literary progeny Gillian Beer; 16. The Origin and political thought: from liberalism to Marxism Naomi Beck; 17. The Origin and philosophy Tim Lewens; 18. The Origin of Species as a book Michele Kohler and Chris Kohler.

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Biography

Michael Ruse is the Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Program in History and Philosophy of Science at Florida State University. The author or editor of more than 30 books, including Can a Darwinian be a Christian? and Darwinism and its Discontents, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the recipient of several honorary degrees.

Robert J. Richards is Morris Fishbein Professor of the History of Science and director of the Fishbein Center for the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Chicago. He has held major fellowships for work in history and philosophy of biology and is the author is many books, including Darwin and the Emergence of Evolutionary Theories of Mind and Behavior and The Tragic Sense of Life: Ernst Haeckel and the Struggle over Evolutionary Thought.