Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species is unquestionably one of the chief landmarks in biology. The Origin (as it is widely known) was literally only an abstract of the manuscript Darwin had originally intended to complete and publish as the formal presentation of his views on evolution. Compared with the Origin, his original long manuscript work on Natural Selection, which is presented here and made available for the first time in printed form, has more abundant examples and illustrations of Darwin's argument, plus an extensive citation of sources.
Commonly use symbols and abbreviation code
Acknowledgements
General introduction
1. Editorial considerations
2. Darwin's table of contents
3. Possibility of all organic beings crossing
4. Variation under nature
5. The struggle for existence
6. On natural selection
7. Laws of variation
8. Difficulties on the theory
9. Hybridism
10. Mental powers and instincts of animals
11. Geographical distribution
Appendices
Bibliography
Guides to the texts of the long and short versions
Collation between the Origin and Natural Selection
Index
"Natural Selection is a joy to read. It is full of insights and subtle observations that never found their way into the Origin."
- Science
"[...] enables all interested in evolutionary theories to appreciate the background information on which Darwin based the statements he made and the conclusions he reached in the Origin."
- New Scientist