Extracts and comment
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In his introduction to the first edition of On the Origin of Species, the great naturalist lays out his "mystery of mysteries" -
Darwin wonders how varieties can become full species. Crucial to this is what he calls "the struggle for existence" -
This chapter is the crux of the Origin of Species, in which Darwin sets out his theory of natural selection -
Darwin admits that "difficulties" will have occurred to his reader, some "so serious that to this day I can hardly reflect on them without being in some degree staggered"
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Darwin admits that the idea the eye could have been formed by natural selection seems at first glance "absurd in the highest possible degree" -
"If you accept that natural traits are variable, that variation is heritable and that there is a struggle for existence, evolution by natural selection must follow" -
Richard Dawkins: Big enough to undermine creation but simple enough to be stated in a sentence, the theory of natural selection is a masterpiece -
On the Origin of Species, an instant bestseller, drew both applause and fury, writes Tim Radford
