Charles Darwin's Notebooks, 1836–1844: Geology, Transmutation of Species, Metaphysical Enquiries - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521350557 ISBN 13: 9780521350556

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1988

Synopsis

Darwin's notebooks provide an invaluable record of his scientific thinking and most importantly, the development of his theory of natural selection. This edition of the notebooks, prepared to the highest standard of textual editing, thus affords a unified view of Darwin's professional interests. The Red Notebook, used on the voyage of H. M. S. Beagle and afterwards in England, contains Darwin's first evolutionary statements. In July of 1837, Darwin began his 'Transmutation Notebooks' (B - E) devoted to the solution of the species problem and in the third notebook of this series he first formulated the theory of natural selection. This volume also contains Notebook A and the glen Roy Notebook on geology, Notebooks M and N on man and behaviour and a notebook labelled Questions and Experiments. Fresh transcriptions have been done for all previously published manuscripts, with readings made directly from Notebooks B, C, D and E, presenting them with previously excised pages and restored to their original sequence.

About this title

Book Description

Darwin's notebooks provide an invaluable record of his scientific thinking and most importantly, the development of his theory of natural selection. This edition of the notebooks, prepared to the highest standard of textual editing, thus affords a unified view of Darwin's professional interests.

From Library Journal

This authoritative edition is a timely and welcome event after the publication of ten volumes of The Works ( LJ 2/1/88). Barrett (Michigan State), who co-edited that project, is here joined by four distinguished Darwin scholars from Great Britain and the United States. Darwin was a prodigious and methodical notetaker. The editors' goal is to provide an accurate text and some interpretation. This compilation contains 11 notebooks and four related manuscripts, including previously unpublished material, grouped under the headings "Geology," "Transmutation of Species," and "Metaphysical Enquiries." The Notebooks hold the mass of observations, comparisons, and conclusions that led to Darwin's theory of evolution and Origin of the Species . (Lay readers are better served by a good reading edition of that work.) The text of the notebooks, printed in generous type and accompanied by copious clear notes, is aided by a thorough bibliography and two indexes. The preface and introduction are well-written and informative on the state of Darwin resources and scholarship. Essential to scientific and scholarly collections; recommended for four-year academic and large public libraries. Harry E. Whitmore, Univ. of Maine Lib., Orono
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0521350557
• ISBN 13: 9780521350556
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 756
• Editor: Barrett Paul H., Gautrey Peter J., Herbert Sandra, Kohn David, Smith Sydney