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Hi All, =20
In the early 50's I read Origin of Species, Movement of (in ?) =
Plants, Insectivorous Plants, Voyage of the Beagle, portions of other =
books by Darwin and something involving effect of earthworms on soil and =
found them all to be instructive and inspiring.
This is beating a dead horse but there is more involved than =
Darwin's demonstrated ability to craft unambiguous, lucid and readable =
prose: and that skill is beyond the reach of most. In his day (1809- =
1882) things were more difficult than they are now. On board the Beagle =
(He was only 22 when the Beagle left Britain.) conditions would be =
primitive in our eyes; probably tallow candles or whale oil lamps for =
light, wood for cooking, livestock for milk and meat when the time came. =
During this voyage, and perhaps for most of his life, manuscripts would =
be written with a steel dip pen on unlined paper. In some cities, by the =
mid 1800's, I think there would have been water gas for illumination but =
he lived in the country and probably would have known paraffin candles =
(1855) and kerosene (1853) only late in life. And electricity was still =
a largely unavailable laboratory curiosity.
But even more daunting, in his Origin of Species he had to present =
the rationales for Natural Selection and Evolution in ways that would =
ignite a minimum of opposition. I think he (and Wallace) did a =
remarkable job but opposition persists. There are still large areas in =
the US where it is illegal to teach anything about evolution in the =
public schools.
Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
=20
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Jim Wolford=20
To: naturens=20
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2014 5:23 PM
Subject: [NatureNS] Darwin's - Origin of Species
I have not read a lot of Darwin=92s works, which are amazingly =
prolific and wide-ranging, but I heartily agree with Fred Scheuler and =
Pat here that Darwin=92s writing is ultra-clear and extremely literate. =
We all can be thankful that Darwin was badgered into rapidly publishing =
his most famous work, which was a hopelessly-brief =93abstract=94 of his =
theory of natural selection with a bit of evidence in favor of it! =
Cheers from Jim in Wolfville.
Begin forwarded message:
From: Patrick Kelly <Patrick.Kelly@Dal.Ca>
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Darwin's - Origin of Species
Date: September 3, 2014 at 4:39:36 PM ADT
To: "<naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>" <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
I read it for the first time two years ago. I got the current =
Penguin edition which is the final edition (6th if memory serves) and I =
found it to be a great read. There each edition included counter =
arguments against objections raised from previous editiions. I found it =
to be clear, easy to understand, and a great read. Given how old the =
book is, it does an amazing job of outlining the premise and the =
supporting evidence for it.=20
Pat
On Sep 2, 2014, at 8:35 PM, James Hirtle wrote:
Hi all:
=20
I just finished reading Charles Darwin's - The Origin of Species. =
For the sake of argument has anyone else read this and what was your =
opinion of it? I found it rather drab and a hard read. There were =
really only two things of real interest to me, which was the lifespan of =
an elephant and the time it takes a female to produce it's first young. =
Also, that ants will tickle the bottom of an aphid to make it excrete =
and then eat this as food.=20
=20
It was my impression after reading the book that a lot of Darwin's =
thoughts and discoveries were not his own, but based on the research of =
others and possibly taken as his own. In comparison to other writings =
by him and of others about his research, which by the way I really =
enjoyed at the time. I was really disheartened after reading the actual =
Origin of Species also written by him. I'll look forward to others =
thoughts on this book. =20
=20
James R. Hirtle
Bridgewater
=
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Patrick Kelly
Director of Computer Facilities
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Faculty of Architecture and Planning
Dalhousie University
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<DIV>Hi All, </DIV>
<DIV> In the early 50's I read Origin of=20
Species, Movement of (in ?) Plants, Insectivorous Plants, =
Voyage=20
of the Beagle, portions of other books by Darwin and something =
involving effect of earthworms on soil and found them all to be =
instructive and=20
inspiring.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> This is beating a dead horse but there is mo