Audiobook · read by volunteers
Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection
Charles Darwin (1809–1882)
Read by Annie Coleman Rothenberg, Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023), Hugh McGuire, David Barnes, Rainer, Guntar, Chip, Gesine, Kurt Wong, Anita Roy Dobbs · 28 chapters · 24 h 22
About the book
Charles Darwin spent some twenty years gathering evidence before he published On the Origin of Species, and when it appeared in 1859 it changed the way people understood life on Earth. The argument is as clear as it is far-reaching: populations vary, more offspring are born than can survive, and over many generations the traits that help survival are passed on. Darwin builds his case from pigeons and plants, from islands, fossils and the struggle for existence, always with patience and humility. Twenty-eight sections and almost twenty-five hours, shared among ten readers, give you the chance to follow the case in his own words. Whatever your views, hearing the original argument is a good way to meet one of the most important books in the history of science. A landmark worth hearing.
Introduction
Charles Darwin, who lived from 1809 to 1882, was an English naturalist who changed the study of life. His book On the Origin of Species, published in 1859, is a pivotal work in scientific literature and arguably the pivotal work in evolutionary biology. The full title is On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.
It introduced the theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection. It was controversial because it contradicted religious beliefs which underlay the then current theories of biology. Darwin’s book was the culmination of evidence he had accumulated on the voyage of the Beagle in the 1830s and added to through continuing investigations and experiments after his return to England.
The text is written for an educated general public, not just for scientists, and it proceeds in an orderly way. Early chapters deal with variation under domestication and under nature, and the struggle for existence, and later ones consider the difficulties of the theory, instinct, hybridism, the geological record and geographical distribution. Darwin anticipates objections and replies to them, and the tone is modest and careful. Today, the book remains of great historical importance, and parts of it still read freshly. Scientific knowledge has advanced enormously since its time, but the core argument is one that anyone interested in biology should know.
This LibriVox recording has twenty-eight sections and lasts about twenty-four and a half hours. Ten volunteers share the reading, including Annie Coleman Rothenberg, Kara Shallenberg and Hugh McGuire. Darwin’s patient style and careful reasoning make this much more approachable than its reputation might suggest, and the long run of sections allows the argument to develop naturally.
Public domain
Charles Darwin died in 1882: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text