Easily the most influential book published in the nineteenth century, Darwin’s The Origin of Species is also that most unusual phenomenon, an altogether readable discussion of a scientific subject. On its appearance in 1859 it was immediately recognized by enthusiasts and detractors alike as a work of the greatest importance: the revolutionary theory of evolution by means of natural selection that it presented provoked a furious reaction that continues to this day.

The Origin of Species is here published together with Darwin’s earlier Voyage of the ‘Beagle’. This 1839 account of the journeys to South America and the Pacific islands that first put Darwin on the track of his remarkable theories derives an added charm from his vivid description of his travels in exotic places and his eye for the piquant detail.

达尔文(Charles Robert Darwin，1809－1882)英国博物学家，进化论的奠基人。1809年2月12日，出生于英国医生家庭。1825年至1828年在爱丁大学学医，后进入剑桥大学学习神学。1831年从剑桥大学毕业后，以博物学家的身份乘海军勘探船“贝格尔号(Beagle)”作历时5年(1831－1836)的环球旅行，观察和搜集了动物、植物和地质等方面的大量材料，经过归纳整理和综合分析，形成了生物进行的概念。1859年出版《物种起源(On the Origin of Species)》一书，全面提出以自然选择(Theoty of Natural Selection)为基础的进化学说。该书出版震动当时的学术界，成为生物学史上的一个转折点。自然选择的进化学说对各种唯心的神造论、目的论和物种不变论提出根本性的挑战。使当时生物学各领域已经形成的概念和观念发生根本性的改变。随后达尔文又发表了《动物和植物在家养下的变异(The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication ，1868)》、《人类由来及性的选择(The Descent of Man ，1871)》和《人类和动物的表情(The Expression of the Emotions in Animals and Man，1872)》等书，对人工选择作了系统的叙述，并提出性选择及人类起源的理论，进一步充实了进化学说的内容。