The Portable Darwin

Charles Darwin, a Victorian scientist and naturalist, has become one of the most famous figures of science to date. Born in 1809 to an upper-middle-class medical family, he was destined for a career in either medicine or the Anglican Church. However, he never completed his medical education and his future changed entirely in 1831 when he joined HMS Beagle as a self-financing, independent naturalist. On returning to England in 1836 he began to write up his theories and observations which culminated in a series of books, most famously On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859, where he challenged and contradicted contemporary biological and religious beliefs with two decades worth of scientific investigation and theory. Darwin's theory of natural selection is now the most widely accepted scientific model of how species evolve. He died in 1882 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

INTRODUCTION CHRONOLOGY Remarks upon the Habits of the Genera Geospiza, Camarhynchus, Cactornis and Certhidea of Gould. [1837] On Certain Areas of Elevation and Subsidence in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, as Deduced from the Study of Coral Formations. [1838] Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, between the years 1826 and 1836, describing Their Examination of the Southern Shores of South America, and the Beagle's Circumnavigation of the Globe. Vol. III. Journal and Remarks, 1832-1836. [1839] Humble-Bees. [1841] The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs. [1842] Geological Observations on South America. [1846] Does Salt-water Kill Seeds? [1855] Productiveness of Foreign Seed. [1857] On the Tendency of Species to Form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection. [1858] On the Origin Of Species by Means of Natural Select' ion, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. [1859] Natural Selection. [1860] Fertilisation of Orchids by Insect Agency. [1860] On the Various Contrivances by Which British and Foreign Orchids are Fertilised by Insects, and on the Good Effects of Intercrossing. [1862] Variations Effected by Cultivation. [1862] Recollections of Professor Henslow. [1862] The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication. [1868] Origin of Species. [1869] The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. [1871] Pangenesis. [1871] The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. [1872] Perception in the Lower Animals. [1873] Flowers of the Primrose Destroyed by Birds. [1874] Insectivorous Plants. [1875] The Effects of Cross and Self-Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom. [1876] Sexual Selection in Relation to Monkeys. [1876] The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species. [1877] A Biographical Sketch of an Infant. [1877] Erasmus Darwin. [1879] The Power of Movement in Plants. [1880] A Letter to Frithiof Holmgren; Mr. Darwin on Vivisection. [1881] The Formation of Vegetable Mould, through the Action of Worms, with Observations on Their Habits. [1881] EPILOGUE FURTHER READING.