The Origin of Species
by Charles Darwin · first published 2002
13% recommend81% neutral6% critical
Why HN recommends it
A readable primary source for evolution by natural selection, written for educated general readers. Its clear argumentation changes how the reader thinks, rather than simply supplying facts.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…specific quote out of it. For me, at least, the value of a book is changing your way of thinking, or better yet, present new questions that you did not even dare to ask. I would recommend Darwin's own Origin of Species instead of Dawkins' Selfish Gene. I've read both. They can't even begin to compare. One is a serious scientific and a mind bending exercise in nature's ways, the other one deserves the title of pop culture.…
on “Books and lectures don't work” ↗On the Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin. It's pretty dense, dry, and can require a bit of a commitment, but there's some pretty interesting bits and pieces in there aside from just proposing evolution.
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books or essays written at least 100 years ago?” ↗Interbreeding isn't a bright line. Zebras can breed with Donkeys! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebroid Darwin's Origin of Species had a good section on this; the book is quite readable.
on “Humans Interbred with Four Extinct Hominin Species, Research Finds” ↗Natural selection is a great example for more than one reason: Darwin wasn't the very first to think it, but Origin of the Species is perhaps the most beautiful science ever written.
on “Paul Buchheit: Ideas vs Judgment and Execution: Climbing the Mountain” ↗His Darwin bashing is probably bullshit. Given that Darwin didn't have a theory of discrete (Mendelian) inheritance he got a truly insane amount right. There are things in Origin of Species that were ignored for generations and when investigated were incredibly fruitful in understanding evolution, like sexual selection.
on “Father of all humankind is 340,000 years old” ↗In what way did On the Origin of Species not "get it right"? It necessarily has holes as Darwin was unaware of DNA or horizontal gene transfer, but he nailed the basic mechanism, and anticipated and addressed many of the criticisms that would…
on “What Books Could Be Used to Rebuild Civilization?” ↗Darwin is fantastic. Not only did he bootstrap the field of evolutionary biology despite his lack of access to modern genetics, but he also wrote about it beautifully. On the Origin of Species is still a great read and a lucid explanation of a difficult subject. He's a great person to strive to emulate.
on “For progress to be by accumulation and not random walk, read great books (2010)” ↗I think Darwin gets special note for the fact that while there are many incredible works of theory in math and physics, there's really only one in biology: On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin.
on “Why is Maxwell's theory so hard to understand? (2007) [pdf]” ↗…Outliers Good to Great Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz (Self-image) Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey(Being awesome) Wealth of Nations Wayne Dyer The Tao System of the World Origin of Species Brave new world Thank you economy Crush it Built to Last Who Moved my Cheese Stillness Speak Eckhert Tolle Mastery George Leonard Steve Jobs Biography The Last Lecture Steve Pavlina Books Iacocca…
on “Ask HN: What are some Good Books you have read in past one year or so..” ↗…beating each other with the scientific method, I believe [!] the onus is on those who think evolution to be an incorrect theory to provide a result that falsifies the premise. FWIW, if you haven't read The Origin of Species, I can't recommend it strongly enough. It is my opinion Darwin is a better writer than Dawkins, Gould or Jones. The man could put together a lovely sentence.
on “50% of South Korean biology teachers do not accept evolution” ↗I use to ride the train from San Francisco to Sunnyvale and was able to read a lot of books. I had to be careful though because if I got too into the book I would miss my stop. Audio Books: Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin -- https://librivox.org/the-origin-of-species-by-charles-darwin... The Art of War by Sun Tzu -- https://archive.org/details/art_of_war_librivox Gulliver’s…
on “2x 40 min of train everyday. Best way to spend them?” ↗…the ones being fed to you are crap. They represent many thousands of years of collected intelligence and wisdom many written by the intellect that created the ideas underlying today's society. Check out Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin or Relativity by Albert Einstein.
on “Our IQs have never been higher – but it hasn’t made us smart” ↗Darwin himself was keenly aware of the danger of arrogance. One of my favorite quotes from the Origin of Species: "So profound is our ignorance, and so high our presumption, that we marvel when we hear of the extinction of an organic being; and as we do not see the cause, we invoke cataclysms to desolate the world,…
on “Mysterious ‘Jumping Gene’ That Appears 500k Times in Human DNA” ↗The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. It is one of the books that is referenced all of the time over the span of my life. Realized I never thought to actually read it for myself...I recommend checking it off the list.
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin. I can't believe it took me so long to read one of the most important books written.
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗