On the origin of species by means of natural selection

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1. thisrodMay 2009
   Scientists have created the most beautiful and useful artifacts ever made. Think "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica", "On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection", "The Nature of the Chemical Bond", and "The Principles of Quantum Mechanics". Unfortunately, most people are too dumb and lazy to appreciate them.

   Picture Francis Crick, putting down his pen after writing, "It has not escaped the attention of the authors that this structure suggests a mechanism for replication."

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2. Allocator2008Apr 2009
   The only book anyone, human or alien, really needs to read is -

   "On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection"

   by Charles Darwin, 1859.

   "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins, 1974 is a good appendum there as well but once mastering "Origin" one really has the basics one needs.

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3. enduserJun 2026
   He famously wrote a book with that title, but he actually wrote a book titled On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
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4. defrostFeb 2023
   > you can force all libraries to buy the new edition

   I'm sorry, what now?

   My local library here in Western Australia has a second edition of Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (1860, 3000 copies).

   There's been no pressure that I'm aware of to acquire the first, third, fourth, fifth or sixth editions or the numerous translations that I'm aware of - many of these are carried by other libraries.

   Who is going around libraries forcing them to get more recent editions?

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5. interesticaNov 2020
   Luckily: "The two Darwin notebooks had previously been digitised and their content is available online." .

   University of Cambridge has a bit more on their "appeal" site (https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/DarwinAppeal)

   The digitized notebooks are available:

   [1] https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DAR-00121/1

   [2] https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DAR-00122/1

   Also, today is the anniversary of the release of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life on November 24, 1859.

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species

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6. interesticaNov 2020
   Luckily: "The two Darwin notebooks had previously been digitised and their content is available online." .

   University of Cambridge has a bit more on their "appeal" site (https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/DarwinAppeal)

   The digitized notebooks are available:

   [1] https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DAR-00121/1

   [2] https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DAR-00122/1

   Also, yesterday was the anniversary of the release of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life on November 24, 1859.

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species

   Show morethread