Selections from Darwin’s The Origin of Species: The Shape of the Argument

Selections from Darwin’s The Origin of Species: The Shape of the Argument

Nicholas Maistrellis
Role: Editor

Although it is a scientific work, the Origin of Species was not written solely for specialists. Darwin expected it to be read and understood by generally educated readers, readers like you and me. Nicholas Maistrellis proposes that the Origin of Species “this whole volume is one long argument.” that reorganized biology according to a revolutionary idea – that the world of living things that surrounds us, and of which we are a part, is essentially historical; that it has come into being through time, and by means of causes that act in time.