How To Read Darwin

Description

Charles Darwin's permanent legacy is his broad, abstract theories of evolution and natural selection, theories which he tested against an astonishing array of natural history evidence in his writing, Mark Ridley identifies the question and answer approach as the defining characteristic of the way Darwin carefully tackled problems, and shows here how the reader can understand Darwin's arguments by first working out what question Darwin had implicitly set himself to answer. The book discusses extracts not only from Darwin's most famous books, The Origin of Species and The Descent of Man, but also from a sample of Darwin's other works, which cover topics from flower pollination to coral reefs, from animal domestication to landscaping by earthworms.

Mark Ridley works in the Department of Zoology, Oxford University. He previously held posts at Emory University, Atlanta, USA, and at Cambridge University. His books include the standard college text Evolution and Mendel's Demon. He has also edited anthologies on Evolution and A Darwin Selection.