The Origin Of 'on The Origin Of Species'

This a little something I wrote for myself after reading On The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. Here I attempted to trace the quintessential idea of Origin back to earlier publications, organizing them into chronological order and providing small summaries of each contribution. I have lost the digital copy but saved the hard copy and so desire to at least preserve and share that on this site before I lose the hard copy as well.

Lamarck - Upholds the doctrine that all species, including man, are descended from other species. Aroused the attention to the probability of all change in the organic being the result of a law and not miraculous interposition. [1801, 'Philosophie Zoologique' (1809), 'Hist. Nat. des Animaux sans Vertebres'. (1815)] pg. 17-18

Dr. W.C. Wells - Recognized the principles of natural selection in his paper, by remarking firstly, that all animals vary in some degree, and, secondly, that agriculturalists improve their domesticated animals by selection" 'An Account of a White Female, Part of whose skin resembles thats of a Negro' (1813), published under 'Two Essays Upon Dew and Single Vision' (1818).

Professor Grant - Declares his belief that species are descended from other species, and improved in the course of modification.'Edinburgh Philosophical Journal' vol. xiv. (1826)

Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire - Species are various degenerations of the same type and the conditions of life, or the 'monde ambiant', most likely the causes of change. 'Life' (1828)

Patrick Matthew - Gives the same view on the origin of species as the propounded by Wallace and Darwin in the Linean Journal. 'Naval Timber and Arboriculture' (1831)

Von Buch - Varieties slowly become changed into permanent species. 'Description Physiques des Isles Canaries' (1836)

Rafinesque - "All species might have been varieties once, and many varieties are gradually becoming species by assuming constant and peculiar characters." 'New Flora of North America' (1836)

Rev. W. Herbert - Declares that "horticultural expressions have established, beyond the possibility of refutation, that botanical species are only a higher more permanent class of varieties." and that there had once been a single species per genus which resulted in all of today's species. 'Amaryllidaceae' (1837)

Professor Haldeman - Gave his arguments for and against the hypothesis of the development and modification of species. 'Boston Journal of Nat. Hist. U. States', vol. iv. p 468. (1843-44)

M.J. d'Omalius d'Halloy - It is probable that new species have produced by descent with modification than that they have been separately created. 'Bulletins de I'Acad. Roy. Bruxelles' tom. xiii. p. 581. (1846)

Professor Owen - "The archetypal idea was manifested in the flesh under diverse such modifications, upon this plant, long prior to the existence of those animal species that actually exemplify it." "Nature of Limbs" p.86 (1849)

Dr. Freke - Propounded the doctrine that all organic beings have descended from one primordial form. (1851)

Herbert Spencer - Species have been modified due to a change of circumstances. 'Leader' (1852)

M. Naudin - Species are formed in a analogous manner as varieties are under cultivation. 'Revue Horticole' p. 102 (1852)

Anonymous - "The proposition determined on after much consideration is, that the several series of animated beings, from the simples to the oldest up to the highest and most recent, are, under the providence of God, the results, first, of an impulse which has been imparted to forms of life, advancing them, in define times, by generation, through grades of organisation terminating the highest dicotyledons and vertebrata these grades being few in number, and generally marked by intervals or organic character, which we find to be a practical difficulty in ascertaining affinities; second of another impulse connected with the vital forces, tending, in the course of generations, to modify organic structures in accordance with external circumstances, as food, the nature of the habitat, and the meteoric agencies, these being the 'adaptations' of the natural theologian." 'Vestiges of Creation' (ed. xx. p. 155) (1853)

Count Keyserling - Suggested that certain germs species may have been affected chemically giving rise to new forms. 'Bulletin de la Soc. Geolog', 2nd Ser., tom x. p. 357 (1853)

Dr. Schaaffhausen - Infers that many species have kept true for long periods, whereas a few have become modified. "This living plants and animals are not separated from the extinct by new creation, but are to be regarded as their descendants through continued reproduction." 'Verhand. des Naturhist. Vereins der Preuss. Rheinlands' (1853)

M. Lecoq - Expounds on the modification of species. 'Etudes sur Geograph. Bot.' tom. i. p. 250 (1854)

Rev. Baden Powell - The introduction of new species is "a regular, not a casual phenomenon". 'Essay on the Unity of Worlds' (1855)

Charles Darwin And Alfred Russel Wallace - 'The Origin of Species'. (1858)


Works:

Darwin, Charles and Alfred Russel Wallace. The Origin of Species. New York: Signet Classics, 2003

 

While Darwin may have done pioneer work in the field of evolution he was a devout white supremacist and the original title included “or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life”





Hotwater

 

While perhaps a bit indirect influence, the development of taxonomy by Carl Linnaeus in the 18th century likely played a significant part in providing reference and a structure that was utilized in the formative years of evolutionary theory.

 

I don't know much about Darwin's personal life, and neither do I care, so I'm willing to accept that you are correct about him being a bigot, but the subtitle does not mean what you think it means. The preservation of favored races in the struggle for life is a poetic way to say Natural Selection. To Darwin a race was a species or what he called an incipient species (what we now call a variety). And that subtitle is still included in recent prints.

 

^ I think he was partly joking.

 

As a typical Victorian, he was using a typically Victorian turn of phrase. It would simply be a misunderstanding to think otherwise.

 

Typical Victorians were white supremacists.

 

Darwin was an optimist like Murphy. In the end, sex is never about survival of the fittest, but the most creative with survival being merely another way we become creative. In the last ten years both Quantum Darwinism and Quantum Chaos Theory have received their first confirmations and it should soon be possible to prove survival of the fittest is merely one aspect of the original creative impetus of the Big Bang still expanding because existence itself is self-organizing and creative.

 

How was Murphy an optimist if he believed that whatever can go wrong will in fact go wrong? that's not very optimistic. But he was right. Murphys Law is literally a way of life for me at times. I get ahead and all, but I gotta throw the punches when I can to get there.

 

That's true, but it doesn't alter what I said previously.

 

Because even things that can't go wrong will go wrong! That's why upon the discovery of quantum mechanics Max Planck begged his colleges to please explain the joke.