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& This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_00DD_01CFC7B2.17E39290 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi All, =20 In the early 50's I read Origin of Species, Movement of (in ?) = Plants, Insectivorous Plants, Voyage of the Beagle, portions of other = books by Darwin and something involving effect of earthworms on soil and = found them all to be instructive and inspiring. This is beating a dead horse but there is more involved than = Darwin's demonstrated ability to craft unambiguous, lucid and readable = prose: and that skill is beyond the reach of most. In his day (1809- = 1882) things were more difficult than they are now. On board the Beagle = (He was only 22 when the Beagle left Britain.) conditions would be = primitive in our eyes; probably tallow candles or whale oil lamps for = light, wood for cooking, livestock for milk and meat when the time came. = During this voyage, and perhaps for most of his life, manuscripts would = be written with a steel dip pen on unlined paper. In some cities, by the = mid 1800's, I think there would have been water gas for illumination but = he lived in the country and probably would have known paraffin candles = (1855) and kerosene (1853) only late in life. And electricity was still = a largely unavailable laboratory curiosity. But even more daunting, in his Origin of Species he had to present = the rationales for Natural Selection and Evolution in ways that would = ignite a minimum of opposition. I think he (and Wallace) did a = remarkable job but opposition persists. There are still large areas in = the US where it is illegal to teach anything about evolution in the = public schools. Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville =20 ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Jim Wolford=20 To: naturens=20 Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2014 5:23 PM Subject: [NatureNS] Darwin's - Origin of Species I have not read a lot of Darwin=92s works, which are amazingly = prolific and wide-ranging, but I heartily agree with Fred Scheuler and = Pat here that Darwin=92s writing is ultra-clear and extremely literate. = We all can be thankful that Darwin was badgered into rapidly publishing = his most famous work, which was a hopelessly-brief =93abstract=94 of his = theory of natural selection with a bit of evidence in favor of it! = Cheers from Jim in Wolfville. Begin forwarded message: From: Patrick Kelly <Patrick.Kelly@Dal.Ca> Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Darwin's - Origin of Species Date: September 3, 2014 at 4:39:36 PM ADT To: "<naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>" <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca I read it for the first time two years ago. I got the current = Penguin edition which is the final edition (6th if memory serves) and I = found it to be a great read. There each edition included counter = arguments against objections raised from previous editiions. I found it = to be clear, easy to understand, and a great read. Given how old the = book is, it does an amazing job of outlining the premise and the = supporting evidence for it.=20 Pat On Sep 2, 2014, at 8:35 PM, James Hirtle wrote: Hi all: =20 I just finished reading Charles Darwin's - The Origin of Species. = For the sake of argument has anyone else read this and what was your = opinion of it? I found it rather drab and a hard read. There were = really only two things of real interest to me, which was the lifespan of = an elephant and the time it takes a female to produce it's first young. = Also, that ants will tickle the bottom of an aphid to make it excrete = and then eat this as food.=20 =20 It was my impression after reading the book that a lot of Darwin's = thoughts and discoveries were not his own, but based on the research of = others and possibly taken as his own. In comparison to other writings = by him and of others about his research, which by the way I really = enjoyed at the time. I was really disheartened after reading the actual = Origin of Species also written by him. I'll look forward to others = thoughts on this book. =20 =20 James R. Hirtle Bridgewater = =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Patrick Kelly Director of Computer Facilities = =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Faculty of Architecture and Planning Dalhousie University = =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D MAIL COURIER PO Box 15000 5410 Spring Garden Road Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2 Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada Canada = =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Phone:(902) 494-3294 FAX:(902) 423-6672 = E-mail:patrick.kelly@dal.ca = =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2014.0.4765 / Virus Database: 4015/8145 - Release Date: = 09/02/14 ------=_NextPart_000_00DD_01CFC7B2.17E39290 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dwindows-1252" = http-equiv=3DContent-Type> <META name=3DGENERATOR content=3D"MSHTML 8.00.6001.23588"> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY=20 style=3D"WORD-WRAP: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; = -webkit-line-break: after-white-space"=20 bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV>Hi All, </DIV> <DIV> In the early 50's I read Origin of=20 Species, Movement of (in ?) Plants, Insectivorous Plants, = Voyage=20 of the Beagle, portions of other books by Darwin and something = involving effect of earthworms on soil and found them all to be = instructive and=20 inspiring.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> This is beating a dead horse but there is mo