Length16h 50m
About this audiobook
Of the vast and varied productions of nature, from the hummingbird to the giant redwood, from the beetle's shell to the human hand—what is their origin? In this foundational work that forever altered humanity’s understanding of its place in the natural world, Charles Darwin presents the theory that would become the bedrock of modern biology: evolution by natural selection.
Based on decades of meticulous observation, from the famed voyage of the HMS Beagle to his studies of barnacles and pigeons, Darwin marshals an overwhelming array of evidence. He demonstrates how species are not immutable, but are engaged in a constant struggle for existence. In this struggle, individuals with variations better suited to their environment tend to survive and reproduce, passing those advantageous traits to their offspring. Over immense spans of time, this gradual process of "descent with modification" gives rise to the breathtaking diversity of life, all branching from a common ancestor.
On the Origin of Species is a masterpiece of lucid argumentation and humble reasoning: it connects the work of the earthworm to the geology of continents, and the instincts of the hive to the extinction of the mammoth. Its revolutionary ideas challenged the scientific and religious orthodoxies of its day, and continue to provoke, inspire, and illuminate.
This is the book that answered the question of questions, revealing the grand and simple mechanism that shapes all life on Earth.
Audiobook details
GenreScience and Nature
Length16 hrs 50 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1OPENING QUOTES
29CELL-MAKING INSTINCT OF THE HIVE-BEE.
2INTRODUCTION.
30SUMMARY.
31. VARIATION UNDER DOMESTICATION.
318. HYBRIDISM.
4ON THE BREEDS OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON.
32LAWS GOVERNING THE STERILITY OF FIRST CROSSES AND OF HYBRIDS.
5SELECTION.
33CAUSES OF THE STERILITY OF FIRST CROSSES AND OF HYBRIDS.
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62. VARIATION UNDER NATURE.
34FERTILITY OF VARIETIES WHEN CROSSED, AND OF THEIR MONGREL OFFSPRING.
73. STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE.
35HYBRIDS AND MONGRELS COMPARED, INDEPENDENTLY OF THEIR FERTILITY.
84. NATURAL SELECTION.
369. ON THE IMPERFECTION OF THE GEOLOGICAL RECORD.
9SEXUAL SELECTION.
37ON THE LAPSE OF TIME.
10ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE ACTION OF NATURAL SELECTION.
38ON THE POORNESS OF OUR PALAEONTOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS.
11ON THE INTERCROSSING OF INDIVIDUALS.
39ON THE SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF GROUPS OF ALLIED SPECIES IN THE LOWEST KNOWN FOSSILIFEROUS STRATA.
12CIRCUMSTANCES FAVOURABLE TO NATURAL SELECTION.
40ON EXTINCTION.
13EXTINCTION.
41ON THE FORMS OF LIFE CHANGING ALMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
14DIVERGENCE OF CHARACTER./
42ON THE AFFINITIES OF EXTINCT SPECIES TO EACH OTHER, AND TO LIVING FORMS.
15SUMMARY OF CHAPTER.
43ON THE STATE OF DEVELOPMENT OF ANCIENT FORMS.
165. LAWS OF VARIATION.
44ON THE SUCCESSION OF THE SAME TYPES WITHIN THE SAME AREAS, DURING THE LATER TERTIARY PERIODS.
17EFFECTS OF USE AND DISUSE.
45SUMMARY OF THE PRECEDING AND PRESENT CHAPTERS.
18ACCLIMATISATION.
4611. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.
19CORRELATION OF GROWTH.
47MEANS OF DISPERSAL.
20A PART DEVELOPED IN ANY SPECIES IN AN EXTRAORDINARY DEGREE OR MANNER, IN COMPARISON WITH THE SAME PART IN ALLIED SPECIES, TENDS TO BE HIGHLY VARIABLE.
48DISPERSAL DURING THE GLACIAL PERIOD.
21DISTINCT SPECIES PRESENT ANALOGOUS VARIATIONS; AND A VARIETY OF ONE SPECIES OFTEN ASSUMES SOME OF THE CHARACTERS OF AN ALLIED SPECIES, OR REVERTS TO SOME OF THE CHARACTERS OF AN EARLY PROGENITOR.
4912. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION—continued. : SUMMARY OF LAST AND PRESENT CHAPTERS.
22SUMMARY.
5013. MUTUAL AFFINITIES OF ORGANIC BEINGS: MORPHOLOGY:
236. DIFFICULTIES ON THEORY.
51MORPHOLOGY.
24ON THE ORIGIN AND TRANSITIONS OF ORGANIC BEINGS WITH PECULIAR HABITS AND STRUCTURE.
52EMBRYOLOGY.
25ORGANS OF EXTREME PERFECTION AND COMPLICATION.
53RUDIMENTARY, ATROPHIED, OR ABORTED ORGANS.
26ORGANS OF LITTLE APPARENT IMPORTANCE.
54SUMMARY.
277. INSTINCT.
5514. RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSION.
28SLAVE-MAKING INSTINCT.
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