Charles Robert Darwin (1809 – 1882)

* Summary of Darwin's theory:

Darwin's theory of evolution is based on key facts and the inferences drawn from them, which biologist Ernst Mayr summarised as follows:

- Every species is fertile enough that if all offspring survived to reproduce the population would grow (fact).

- Despite periodic fluctuations, populations remain roughly the same size (fact).

- Resources such as food are limited and are relatively stable over time (fact).

- A struggle for survival ensues (inference).

- Individuals in a population vary significantly from one another (fact).

- Much of this variation is inheritable (fact).

- Individuals less suited to the environment are less likely to survive and less likely to reproduce; individuals more suited to the environment are more likely to survive and more likely to reproduce and leave their inheritable traits to future generations, which produces the process of natural selection (inference).

- This slowly effected process results in populations changing to adapt to their environments, and ultimately, these variations accumulate over time to form new species (inference).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species

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* THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF CHARLES DARWIN
From The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin

By Charles Darwin
Edited by his Son Francis Darwin

Contents:

CAMBRIDGE 1828-1831.
"VOYAGE OF THE 'BEAGLE' FROM DECEMBER 27, 1831, TO OCTOBER 2, 1836."
FROM MY RETURN TO ENGLAND (OCTOBER 2, 1836) TO MY MARRIAGE (JANUARY 29,
FROM MY MARRIAGE, JANUARY 29, 1839, AND RESIDENCE IN UPPER GOWER STREET,
RESIDENCE AT DOWN FROM SEPTEMBER 14, 1842, TO THE PRESENT TIME, 1876.
MY SEVERAL PUBLICATIONS.
WRITTEN MAY 1ST, 1881.

[My father's autobiographical recollections, given in the present chapter, were written for his children,—and written without any thought that they would ever be published. To many this may seem an impossibility; but those who knew my father will understand how it was not only possible, but natural. The autobiography bears the heading, 'Recollections of the Development of my Mind and Character,' and end with the following note:—"Aug. 3, 1876. This sketch of my life was begun about May 28th at Hopedene (Mr. Hensleigh Wedgwood's house in Surrey.), and since then I have written for nearly an hour on most afternoons." It will easily be understood that, in a narrative of a personal and intimate kind written for his wife and children, passages should occur which must here be omitted; and I have not thought it necessary to indicate where such omissions are made. It has been found necessary to make a few corrections of obvious verbal slips, but the number of such alterations has been kept down to the minimum.—F.D.]

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2010/2010-h/2010-h.htm

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* ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES
BY MEANS OF NATURAL SELECTION,
OR THE PRESERVATION OF FAVOURED RACES
IN THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE.
By CHARLES DARWIN, M.A.,
FELLOW OF THE ROYAL, GEOLOGICAL, LINNEAN, ETC., SOCIETIES;

AUTHOR OF 'JOURNAL OF RESEARCHES DURING H. M. S. BEAGLE'S VOYAGE
ROUND THE WORLD.'

FIFTH THOUSAND.
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1860.
The right of Translation is reserved.


LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET,
AND CHARING CROSS.

[v]
CONTENTS.
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Introduction

Page 1

CHAPTER I.
Variation under Domestication.

Causes of Variability—Effects of Habit—Correlation of Growth—Inheritance—Character of Domestic Varieties—Difficulty of distinguishing between Varieties and Species—Origin of Domestic Varieties from one or more Species—Domestic Pigeons, their Differences and Origin—Principle of Selection anciently followed, its Effects—Methodical and Unconscious Selection—Unknown Origin of our Domestic Productions—Circumstances favourable to Man's power of Selection

7-43

CHAPTER II.
Variation under Nature.

Variability—Individual differences—Doubtful species—Wide ranging, much diffused, and common species vary most—Species of the larger genera in any country vary more than the species of the smaller genera—Many of the species of the larger genera resemble varieties in being very closely, but unequally, related to each other, and in having restricted ranges

44-59

[vi]
CHAPTER III.
Struggle for Existence.

Its bearing on natural selection—The term used in a wide sense—Geometrical powers of increase—Rapid increase of naturalised animals and plants—Nature of the checks to increase—Competition universal—Effects of climate—Protection from the number of individuals—Complex relations of all animals and plants throughout nature—Struggle for life most severe between individuals and varieties of the same species; often severe between species of the same genus—The relation of organism to organism the most important of all relations

60-79

CHAPTER IV.
Natural Selection.

Natural Selection—its power compared with man's selection—its power on characters of trifling importance—its power at all ages and on both sexes—Sexual Selection—On the generality of intercrosses between individuals of the same species—Circumstances favourable and unfavourable to Natural Selection, namely, intercrossing, isolation, number of individuals—Slow action—Extinction caused by Natural Selection—Divergence of Character, related to the diversity of inhabitants of any small area, and to naturalisation—Action of Natural Selection, through Divergence of Character and Extinction, on the descendants from a common parent—Explains the Grouping of all organic beings

80-130

CHAPTER V.
Laws of Variation.

Effects of external conditions—Use and disuse, combined with natural selection; organs of flight and of vision—Acclimatisation—Correlation of growth—Compensation and economy of growth—False correlations—Multiple, rudimentary, and lowly organised structures variable—Parts developed in an unusual manner are highly variable: specific characters more variable than generic: secondary sexual characters variable—Species of the same genus vary in an analogous manner—Reversions to long-lost characters—Summary

131-170

[vii]
CHAPTER VI.
Difficulties on Theory.

Difficulties on the theory of descent with modification—Transitions—Absence or rarity of transitional varieties—Transitions in habits of life—Diversified habits in the same species—Species with habits widely different from those of their allies—Organs of extreme perfection—Means of transition—Cases of difficulty—Natura non facit saltum—Organs of small importance—Organs not in all cases absolutely perfect—The law of Unity of Type and of the Conditions of Existence embraced by the theory of Natural Selection

171-206

CHAPTER VII.
Instinct.

Instincts comparable with habits, but different in their origin—Instincts graduated—Aphides and ants—Instincts variable—Domestic instincts, their origin—Natural instincts of the cuckoo, ostrich, and parasitic bees—Slave-making ants—Hive-bee, its cell-making instinct—Difficulties on the theory of the Natural Selection of instincts—Neuter or sterile insects—Summary

207-244

CHAPTER VIII.
Hybridism.

Distinction between the sterility of first crosses and of hybrids—Sterility various in degree, not universal, affected by close interbreeding, removed by domestication—Laws governing the sterility of hybrids—Sterility not a special endowment, but incidental on other differences—Causes of the sterility of first crosses and of hybrids—Parallelism between the effects of changed conditions of life and crossing—Fertility of varieties when crossed and of their mongrel offspring not universal—Hybrids and mongrels compared independently of their fertility—Summary

245-278

[viii]
CHAPTER IX.
On the Imperfection of the Geological Record.

On the absence of intermediate varieties at the present day—On the nature of extinct intermediate varieties; on their number—On the vast lapse of time, as inferred from the rate of deposition and of denudation—On the poorness of our palæontological collections—On the intermittence of geological formations—On the absence of intermediate varieties in any one formation—On the sudden appearance of groups of species—On their sudden appearance in the lowest known fossiliferous strata

279-311

CHAPTER X.
On the Geological Succession of Organic Beings.

On the slow and successive appearance of new species—On their different rates of change—Species once lost do not reappear—Groups of species follow the same general rules in their appearance and disappearance as do single species—On Extinction—On simultaneous changes in the forms of life throughout the world—On the affinities of extinct species to each other and to living species—On the state of development of ancient forms—On the succession of the same types within the same areas—Summary of preceding and present chapters

312-345

CHAPTER XI.
Geographical Distribution.

Present distribution cannot be accounted for by differences in physical conditions—Importance of barriers—Affinity of the productions of the same continent—Centres of creation—Means of dispersal, by changes of climate and of the level of the land, and by occasional means—Dispersal during the Glacial period co-extensive with the world

346-382

CHAPTER XII.
Geographical Distribution—continued.

Distribution of fresh-water productions—On the inhabitants of oceanic islands—Absence of Batrachians and of terrestrial Mammals—On the relation of the inhabitants of islands to those of the nearest mainland—On colonisation from the nearest source with subsequent modification—Summary of the last and present chapters

383-410

CHAPTER XIII.
Mutual Affinities of Organic Beings: Morphology: Embryology: Rudimentary Organs.

Classification, groups subordinate to groups—Natural system—Rules and difficulties in classification, explained on the theory of descent with modification—Classification of varieties—Descent always used in classification—Analogical or adaptive characters—Affinities, general, complex and radiating—Extinction separates and defines groups—Morphology, between members of the same class, between parts of the same individual—Embryology, laws of, explained by variations not supervening at an early age, and being inherited at a corresponding age—Rudimentary organs; their origin explained—Summary

411-458

CHAPTER XIV.
Recapitulation and Conclusion.

Recapitulation of the difficulties on the theory of Natural Selection—Recapitulation of the general and special circumstances in its favour—Causes of the general belief in the immutability of species—How far the theory of natural selection may be extended—Effects of its adoption on the study of Natural history—Concluding remarks

459-490

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1228

or

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2009/2009-h/2009-h.htm


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* Charles Darwin (vi.wikipedia)

http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin

* Sách Nguồn Gốc Các Loài

Nguồn gốc các loài là tên rút gọn của cuốn sách Về nguồn gốc các loài qua con đường chọn lọc tự nhiên, hay sự bảo tồn những chủng ưu thế trong đấu tranh sinh tồn (On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life) của Charles Darwin, xuất bản năm 1859...

■Tác giả : Charles Darwin
■Dịch giả : Trần Bá Tín
■Số trang : 496 trang
■Giá bìa : 85000 VNĐ
■Khổ sách : 16 x 24 cm
■Loại bìa : Mềm
■Phát hành : Cty Sách Phương Nam
■Năm xuất bản : 2009

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