Origins of Darwin's Evolution

Solving the Species Puzzle Through Time and Place

J. David Archibald

$124.95

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Columbia University Press
10 October 2017

History of science; Taxonomy & systematics; Evolution; Biodiversity

Historical biogeography-the study of the history of species through both time and place-first convinced Charles Darwin of evolution. This field was so important to Darwin's initial theories and line of thinking that he said as much in the very first paragraph of On the Origin of Species (1859) and later in his autobiography. His methods included collecting mammalian fossils in South America clearly related to living forms, tracing the geographical distributions of living species across South America, and sampling peculiar fauna of the geologically young Galápagos Archipelago that showed evident affinities to South American forms. Over the years, Darwin collected other evidence in support of evolution, but his historical biogeographical arguments remained paramount, so much so that he devotes three full chapters to this topic in On the Origin of Species.

Discussions of Darwin's landmark book too often give scant attention to this wealth of evidence, and we still do not fully appreciate its significance in Darwin's thinking. In Origins of Darwin's Evolution, J. David Archibald explores this lapse, showing how Darwin first came to the conclusion that, instead of various centers of creation, species had evolved in different regions throughout the world. He also shows that Darwin's other early passion-geology-proved a more elusive corroboration of evolution. On the Origin of Species has only one chapter dedicated to the rock and fossil record, as it then appeared too incomplete for Darwin's evidentiary standards.

Carefully retracing Darwin's gathering of evidence and the evolution of his thinking, Origins of Darwin's Evolution achieves a new understanding of how Darwin crafted his transformative theory.

By: J. David Archibald
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9780231176842
ISBN 10: 0231176848
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 10 October 2017
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preface Acknowledgments 1. Establishing the Fact of Evolution 2. Darwin’s Geological Education 3. The Gravest Objection 4. Marking Time 5. The Immutablists 6. Discovering the Long Dead 7. Relating the Long Dead and Collecting the Recently Living 8. Describing the Long Dead and the Recently Living 9. Private Musings then Shared Sketches 10. Darwin’s Historical Biogeography Epilogue: What Many Reviewers Missed References Index

J. David Archibald is professor emeritus of biology at San Diego State University as well as curator of mammals in the SDSU Vertebrate Collections. His books include Dinosaur Extinction and the End of an Era: What the Fossils Say (1996) and Aristotle's Ladder, Darwin's Tree: The Evolution of Visual Metaphors for Biological Order (2014), both from Columbia University Press.

Reviews for Origins of Darwin's Evolution: Solving the Species Puzzle Through Time and Place

[In Archibald's book, ] Darwin's argumentative structure is illuminated, his process in developing the theory is detailed, and the otherwise difficult to interpret roles and relationships of his South American finds become beautifully clear.--Charles H. Pence, Louisiana State University The Quarterly Review of Biology This carefully researched book will appeal to both naturalists and historians of science.--Choice Appealing and concise.--Isis In this thoughtful and carefully researched book, Archibald makes it abundantly clear that it was biogeography, not geology or the fossil record, that provided Darwin and his supporters with the earliest compelling evidence for evolution. Origins of Darwin's Evolution fills a significant gap in the literature on Darwin's research methods and the birth of the modern theory of evolution.--Michael Ghiselin, author of The Triumph of the Darwinian Method Charles Darwin begins The Origin of Species by saying that while on HMS Beagle he was struck by two classes of facts: the strange distributions of plants and animals on Earth, and the progression of forms in the fossil record from the oldest rocks to the youngest. These, and not variations in populations, first led him to doubt theories of special creation and the fixity of species. In this book, J. David Archibald shows how the facts of paleontology and biogeography led Darwin to suspect that organisms changed through time, and eventually to develop the central theory of all of biology. A very nice read that will open the perspectives of a great number of readers.--Kevin Padian, Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley This is a fresh and stimulating reevaluation of the nature of Darwin's argumentation behind his theory of evolution through natural selection. Particularly important is the focus on the evidence Darwin himself thought most important: the geographical distribution of organisms around the globe. This is a book that should be read both by Darwin scholars and by today's practicing evolutionists.--Michael Ruse, author of Defining Darwin: Essays on the History and Philosophy of Evolutionary Biology