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Thu 13 Mar, 2014 09:02 am
On the Origin of Species
On the Origin of Species, published on 24 November 1859, is a work of scientific literature by Charles Darwin which is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. Its full title was On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. For the sixth edition of 1872, the short title was changed to The Origin of Species. Darwin's book introduced the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection. It presented a body of evidence that the diversity of life arose by common descent through a branching pattern of evolution. Darwin included evidence that he had gathered on the Beagle expedition in the 1830s and his subsequent findings from research, correspondence, and experimentation.
Various evolutionary ideas had already been proposed to explain new findings in biology. There was growing support for such ideas among dissident anatomists and the general public, but during the first half of the 19th century the English scientific establishment was closely tied to the Church of England, while science was part of natural theology. Ideas about the transmutation of species were controversial as they conflicted with the beliefs that species were unchanging parts of a designed hierarchy and that humans were unique, unrelated to other animals. The political and theological implications were intensely debated, but transmutation was not accepted by the scientific mainstream.
The book was written for non-specialist readers and attracted widespread interest upon its publication. As Darwin was an eminent scientist, his findings were taken seriously and the evidence he presented generated scientific, philosophical, and religious discussion. The debate over the book contributed to the campaign by T. H. Huxley and his fellow members of the X Club to secularise science by promoting scientific naturalism. Within two decades there was widespread scientific agreement that evolution, with a branching pattern of common descent, had occurred, but scientists were slow to give natural selection the significance that Darwin thought appropriate. During the "eclipse of Darwinism" from the 1880s to the 1930s, various other mechanisms of evolution were given more credit. With the development of the modern evolutionary synthesis in the 1930s and 1940s, Darwin's concept of evolutionary adaptation through natural selection became central to modern evolutionary theory, and it has now become the unifying concept of the life sciences.
source: Wikipedia
Clearly this book flies in the face of the agnostic position of, who knows what the nose knows? Speak, beak. It also blasphemes the creator's image and good name. I therefore nominate it to be the first book we will burn.
Right after we burn the bible.
@Setanta,
Really Setanta? You think the Bible is on the same level of importance as On the Origin of Species, the book at the foundation of our understanding of life?
@maxdancona,
Trying to pick a fight, Max? Good luck with that. If you have some spare time today, look around and see if you can pick up a sense of humor somewhere.
@maxdancona,
maxdancona wrote:
Really Setanta? You think the Bible is on the same level of importance as On the Origin of Species, the book at the foundation of our understanding of life?
I had intended to start a fun thread, that also gave a brief look at interesting books, rather than starting arguments.
I wouldn't have any problems if anyone burnt this book.
@Setanta,
Geez people!
I was just joking... having a little fun.
Please, someone burn this one, and all its sequels, and all the attending movies.
@izzythepush,
izzythepush wrote:
I wouldn't have any problems if anyone burnt this book.
Then the alleged book, Kardashian Konfidential, can be a target as well. Any celebrity autobiography written in fact by a ghost writer instead of its subject is up for a good book burning party.
@George,
George wrote:
...
BURN, BABY, BURN!
Then off to burn down Yankee Stadium!
@edgarblythe,
If you can find one, what we used to call a "telephone book" is a great burn. Puts out lots of heat, so best you burn 'em in a wood burning stove if possible.
You don't see many these days. They have almost no use.
@Finn dAbuzz,
Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehhehehehehehehhe
Anything with 'Big Dummy' in the title.
Rap
The thread was started in jest.
I don't think you understand what's going on here.