The complete works of Charles Darwin are being published on line - will you or have you read them?

Question

I'm only familiar with the writings of Darwin from what was passed along to me in my biology textbooks in school and college. If you've read his works, or plan to read more of the collection, what do you think? Are they easy, difficult or even interesting reading? Are they better left to the biologists and serious biology students? What's your opinion? (
The link I read today from the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6064364.stm )

Answer 1

The great things about having things online is that:
(a) It makes them searchable; and
(b) It can settle disputes about misquoting.

(I can't tell you how many times some creationist claims that "Darwin said " ... and cannot point to a source or a title, much less a page number. Some people just make stuff up.)

However, if you plan to actually read Darwin and understand him ... get out and buy a physical book. You can find a copy of Origin of Species, or Descent of Man, for $3 in used bookstores ... or there are two gorgeous new collections of Darwin's four main books (get 'em online or in any bookstore):
"From So Simple a Beginning" (forward by E.O.Wilson, biologist, Harvard prof., and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner);
"Darwin: The indelible Stamp" (forward by James D. Watson, Nobel laureate and co-discoverer of the structure of DNA).

If you're serious about actually understanding Darwin, then scanning a couple of paragraphs in an online version just don't do it justice.

P.S. You can tell that people who call it "invalid", "science fiction", or "spouting nonsense" have never actually read Darwin, except in snippets misquoted in bad creationist web sites. E.O.Wilson and J.D.Watson *have* read Darwin, and along with many other equally distinguished biologists ... Gould, Elderedge, Lewontin, Dawkins, Dobzhansky, Crick, etc., etc., don't consider Darwin's works "invalid." On the creationists' side you have .... "Dr. Dino"? :-)

Answer 2

Some of the last published works of Darwin discussed what needed to be present (biologically, on the atomic level) for all of his life's work to be valid. In the mid 1900's, that specific information was discovered to be completely false. So, by Darwin's own publications, he had no idea what he was talking about, biologically. There are more important things I can do with my life than read the invalid ideas of an individual who, by their own works and the discoveries that have been made since, is just spouting nonsense!

Answer 3

Darwin is surprisingly modern when you read his works, he anticipates many of the arguments made by the creationist morons and devotes chapters dealing with their objections. It is still reasonably hard going but given that they are seminal works in human understanding they are worth the struggle.

Answer 4

I believe the book is usually better than the movie, however, I think you can understand Darwin without trudging through his works - unless you want to understand it from a historical point of view.

Answer 5

I usually like science fiction.