From So Simple a Beginning - The Four Great Books of Charles Darwin : The Voyage of the Beagle ; On the Origin of Species ; The Descent of Man ; The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals

The authoritative texts taken directly from facsimiles of darwin's original first editions. Six original essays that weave together the thrilling story of darwin's groundbreaking scientific discovery and place darwin's great achievement in the context of nineteenth-century scientific and philosophical thought. Nearly two hundred illustrations, many by darwin himself, scanned from the originals and retouched for maximum clarity and accuracy.
A creative, new index crafted by edward o. wilson, which links nineteenth-century darwinian evolutionary concepts to contemporary biological thought. A new afterword that examines the state of evolutionary theory in an era of religious resistance.