Darwin's Origin of Species A Biography by Janet Browne Selected as one of Time Out’s 1,000 Books to Change Your Life ISBN: 0-8021-4346-6 / ISBN-13: 978-0-8021-4346-4 US $13.00 - 5 x 7 3/4, 192 pp - Mar. 2008

Description:
“Browne takes a straightforward approach to the life and times of this famous tome. . . . This excellent introduction is highly recommended for all readers who want to better understand the heated debates that this book still causes today.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

No book has changed our conception of ourselves more than Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. The idea that living things, including humans, gradually evolve through natural selection is nearly as controversial today as it was upon publication over a century ago, and it remains at the heart of an intense debate between scientists and creationists.

In her illuminating history of On the Origin of Species, Janet Browne, Charles Darwin’s foremost biographer, shows why it can fairly claim to be the greatest science book ever published. Browne describes the long genesis of Darwin’s theories, from his early readings as a university student and his five-year  voyage on the Beagle, to his debates with contemporaries and experiments in his garden. What emerges is a vivid and accessible introduction to the book that permanently altered our understanding of what it is to be human.