The Origin of Species Themes

At the heart of Charles Darwin’s landmark book The Origin of Species is a concept called natural selection. He referred to the “origin” of species in his title because when the book was first published in the mid-1800s, there was a controversy over how species arose. Many believed that each species was created separately and that once created, species were immutable (meaning they didn’t change). While this was not necessarily a religious belief on…

Throughout The Origin of Species, Darwin makes it clear that his book is not simply a collection of facts, but structured in the form of an argument. Whole sections and even chapters of the book are dedicated specifically to answering the objections of critics, which Darwin attempts to do methodically and with hard evidence. While scientific writing is often associated with dry, impartial language, Darwin was writing for a relatively wide audience, and he…

Although today Charles Darwin is one of the most famous names in science, in The Origin of Species, Darwin presents a more limited view of his own influence, suggesting that many of his ideas were merely adapted from the work of other eminent scientists of his era. While it could be argued that this was a rhetorical strategy—a way for Darwin to minimize how potentially radical his ideas were—it is also clear that Darwin…