This book review was written by Eugene Kernes
“It seems clear that organic beings
must be exposed during several generations to new conditions to cause any great
amount of variation; and that, when the organisation has once begun to vary, it
generally continues varying for many generations. No case is on record of a variable organism
ceasing to vary under cultivation. Our
oldest cultivated plants, such as wheat, still yield new varieties: our oldest
domesticated animals are still capable of rapid improvement or modification.” –
Charles Darwin, Chapter 1: Variation Under Domestication, Page 25
“Natural selection acts exclusively by the preservation and accumulation of variations, which are beneficial under the organic and inorganic conditions to which each creature is exposed at all periods of life. The ultimate result is that each creature tends to become more and more improved in relation to its conditions. This improvement inevitably leads to the gradual advancement of the organization of the greater number of living beings throughout the world.” – Charles Darwin, Chapter 4: Natural Selection; Or The Survival Of The Fittest, Page 158
“Natural selection can produce nothing in one species for the exclusive good or injury of another; though it may well produce parts, organs, and excretions highly useful or even indispensable, or highly injurious to another species, but in all cases at the same time useful to the possessor. In each well-stocked country natural selection acts through the competition of the inhabitants and consequently leads to success in the battle for life, only in accordance with the standard of that particular country.” – Charles Darwin, Chapter 6: Difficulties Of The Theory, Page 260
Is This An Overview?
Over successive generations, flora and fauna biologically
adept to better fit their local conditions.
Improving their ability to survive.
In the competition for scarce resources, those fittest to survive spread
to become more numerous. But due to
limits in resources, there are limits to how numerous any species can
become. Larger regions have more
biodiversity with increased competition that causes the species to improve
further.
Caveats?
This is a difficult book to read due to antediluvian
references. This book is about the data,
the evidence, the flora and fauna that explain evolution. The community effort involved in the validation
of the idea of natural selection.
Although a foundational book, improvements have been made since
publication to the science, explanations, and descriptions.
