Often, films, books or sporting events do not live up to their hype. When you finally get a chance to see them you feel disappointed and the excitement quickly fades. 150 years ago today, a book was published that is still as relevant and important today as it was on 24th November 1859.
Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or (‘The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life’) on this day 150 years ago and it was an instant success. It described for the first time the process, over millions of years, by which organisms have evolved. His idea is amazingly simple – natural selection. Those organisms best suited to survival are more likely to pass their genes on to the next generation. It is a brilliant idea and has subsequently been confirmed by our modern understanding of genetics and a huge array of fossil evidence.
Natural selection is the process by which species adapt to their environment. Natural selection leads to evolutionary change when individuals with certain characteristics have a greater survival or reproductive rate than other individuals in a population and pass on these inheritable genetic characteristics to their offspring. Simply put, natural selection is a consistent difference in survival and reproduction between different genotypes, or even different genes, in what we could call reproductive success. [A genotype is a group of organisms sharing a specific genetic makeup.] Douglas Futuyma
As environmental conditions change, natural selection favours those organisms best fit to survive. I have a free copy of Origin of Species on my iPod touch. It is beautifully written, and whilst not an easy read as such, it is well worth looking through a copy if you have a chance.
If you happen to have a first edition of the book you might consider selling it. A copy found in someone’s bathroom in Oxford is expected to fetch £60,000 at auction in London later this week. [Oxford Mail]
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