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<DIV>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This is beating a dead horse but there is mo
Quoting David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com>:
> ...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.
* in his Autobiography, Darwin says that his rule for writing was to
get a first draft down as rapidly as possible, revise, send it around
for reviews (especially by his sister and his wife), revise, and then
revise extensively on the proofs.
this is good advice, and will improve anyone's writing,
fred.
====================================
> 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
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jim Wolford
> To: naturens
> Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2014 5:23 PM
> Subject: [NatureNS] Darwin's - Origin of Species
>
>
> I have not read a lot of Darwin's works, which are amazingly
> prolific and wide-ranging, but I heartily agree with Fred Scheuler
> and Pat here that Darwin's 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 "abstract" 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.
>
>
> Pat
>
>
>
>
> On Sep 2, 2014, at 8:35 PM, James Hirtle wrote:
>
>
> Hi all:
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> James R. Hirtle
> Bridgewater
>
>
>
>
>
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