[NatureNS] Darwin's - Origin of Species

From: David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
References: <D7CC8CAC-CF27-4589-8EAE-5A045195B45A@dal.ca>
Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 20:03:13 -0300
Precedence: bulk
Return-Path: <naturens-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>
Original-Recipient: rfc822;"| (cd /csuite/info/Environment/FNSN/MList; /csuite/lib/arch2html)"

next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects

&
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,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the early 50's I read Origin of=20
Species,&nbsp;Movement&nbsp;of (in ?)&nbsp;Plants, Insectivorous Plants, =
Voyage=20
of the Beagle,&nbsp;portions of other books&nbsp;by Darwin and something =

involving effect of earthworms on soil and found them all to be =
instructive and=20
inspiring.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This is beating a dead horse but there is mo