Charles Darwin

Broschiertes Buch

Various Contrivances by Which Orchids are Fertilised by Insects, The

Beschreibung

"The object of the following work is to show that the contrivances by which Orchids are fertilised, are as varied and almost as perfect as any of the most beautiful adaptations in the animal kingdom; and, secondly, to show that these contrivances have for their main object the fertilisation of each flower. In my volume 'On the Origin of Species' I have given only general reasons for my belief that it is apparently a universal law of nature that organic beings require an occasional cross with another individual; or, which is almost the same thing, that no hermaphrodite fertilises itself for a perpetuity of generations. Having been blamed for propounding this doctrine without giving ample facts, for which I had not, in that work, sufficient space, I wish to show that I have not spoken without having gone into details." - Charles Darwin Asa Gray is quoted as saying, "if the Orchid-book (with a few trifling omissions) had appeared before the 'Origin' the author would have been canonised rather than anathematised by the natural theologians."

Autor

Charles Darwin was a naturalist earned fame for the 'Theory of Evolution'. He was born on 12 February 1809 in Shrewsbury England. His father Robert Waring Darwin was a medical doctor and mother Susannah Wedgwood belonged to a famous pottery family. In his childhood he went Shrewsbury School, academically he was not good. For advanced learning, his father sends him to Edinburgh University in Scotland to become a doctor but he was not interested and he joined Christ's College Cambridge. His interests developed in botany thus, he studied John Stevens Henslow's course in botany, though he completed his graduation in 1831. As a naturalist Darwin got an opportunity to go to second sea voyage of H.M.S. Beagle to survey the coast of South America. On his voyage he studied plants and animal's life. His interests in life science evolved and after working more than 20 years, in 1859 his world fame work 'On the Origin of Species' was published. He explained theory of evolution by natural selection. He said that life on earth evolved from a common ancestor. On earth there is struggle for survival between members who have favourable traits they survive and reproduce, it is known as survival of fittest. Well adapted species survived and less became extinct. Earlier Darwin faced criticism but later he earned honour for the theory. Darwin died on 19 April 1882.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: University Press of the Pacific
• Seitenzahl: 320
• Erscheinungstermin: 16. Juli 2003
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 203mm x 127mm x 19mm
• Gewicht: 386g
• ISBN-13: 9781410207050
• ISBN-10: 1410207056
• Artikelnr.: 21979135