The Autobiography of Charles Darwin by Charles Darwin (PDF)

Description

This edition of Darwin’s life story restores previously censored passages on religion and the scientist’s opinions of his contemporaries. Darwin wrote his autobiography in 1876, at the age of sixty-seven, hoping it would prove interesting to his children and grandchildren. Preparing the book for a wider audience, his family initially sought to protect his legacy by removing passages they found too personal or controversial. This restored edition, which appeared one hundred years after the publication of On the Origin of Species, was edited by Darwin’s own granddaughter Nora Barlow, who wished to share the text as it originally existed in her family’s archives. Shedding light on the women in Darwin’s life and his evolving views on religion, The Autobiography of Charles Darwin delves deep into his brilliant yet shy and reclusive personality, from his childhood love of nature to the reception of his groundbreaking theories on evolution. It also includes previously unpublished notes and letters on family matters, as well as Darwin’s dispute with Samuel Butler.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Not very interesting but useful if you’re looking for facts in Darwin’s life. It’s hard to read this book as an autobiography

⭐This is a must read for anyone interested in science, history, biography, or simply the story of a fascinating man. Highly recommended.

⭐Here is an actual line from the text of this edition:”My mother died in July 1817, after I became a bit over 8 years antique, and it’s miles ordinary that I can consider rarely something approximately her except her loss of life-mattress, her black velvet gown, and her curiously constructed work-table.”Here is another, accurate edition, after I bought the same book again:”My mother died in July 1817, when I was a little over eight years old, and it is odd that I can remember hardly anything about her except her death-bed, her black velvet gown, and her curiously constructed work-table.”

⭐A+

⭐Liked the book, very informative, well documented and highly recommend

⭐Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) was the primary developer of the theory of evolution through natural selection. When this Autobiography was first published in 1887, his family suppressed various passages (particularly concerning his religious beliefs), but those have all been restored to the current edition.He wrote, “Whilst on board the Beagle I was quite orthodox, and I remember being heartily laughed at by several of the officers… for quoting the Bible as an unanswerable authority on some point of morality… But I had gradually come, by this time, to see that the Old Testament from its manifestly false history of the world… and from its attributing to God the feelings of a revengeful tyrant, was no more to be trusted than the sacred books of the Hindoos, or the beliefs of any barbarian.” (Pg. 85)He adds, “I gradually came to disbelieve in Christianity as a divine revelation. The fact that many false religions have spread over large portions of the earth like wild-fire had some weight with me. Beautiful as is the morality of the New Testament, it can hardly be denied that its perfection depends in part on the interpretation which we now put on metaphors and allegories. But I was very unwilling to give up my belief… Thus disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete… [I] have never since doubted even for a single second that my conclusion was correct. I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true; for if so the plain language of the text seems to show that the men who do not believe, and this would include my Father, Brother, and almost all my best friends, will be everlastingly punished. And this is a damnable doctrine.” (Pg. 86-87)He goes on, “That there is much suffering in the world no one disputes… for what advantage can there be in the sufferings of millions of the lower animals throughout almost endless time?” (Pg. 90) But interestingly, he adds, “Another source of conviction in the existence of God… follows from the extreme difficulty or rather impossibility of conceiving this immense and wonderful universe… as the result of blind chance and necessity. When thus reflecting I feel compelled to look to a First Cause having an intelligentmind in some degree analogous to that of man; and I deserve to be called a Theist. This conclusion was strong in my mind … when I wrote

⭐; and it is since that time that it has very gradually with many fluctuations become weaker.” (Pg. 92-93)He recalls, “The success of the Origin may… be attributed in large part to my having written two condensed sketches, and to my having finally abstracted a much larger manuscript, which was itself an abstract. By this means I was enabled to select the more striking facts and conclusions… very few objections were raised against my views which I had not at least noticed and attempted to answer.” (Pg. 123) He concludes, “it has been my greatest comfort to say hundreds of times to myself that ‘I have worked as hard and as well as I could, and no man can do more than this.’ … critics may say what they like, but they cannot destroy this conviction.” (Pg. 125-126)For anyone wanting to know miore about Darwin and his development of evolutionary theory, this book is “essential reading.”

⭐Darwin’s Autobiography serves as a good overview of his life and the major events that happened to him. While the actual autobiography itself is very short and lacks details, its a good starting point for someone wanting to learn more about Darwin. In this edition edited by his son Francis Darwin leaves out some passages about Darwin’s family and married life, something one could argue as particularly telling or interesting information; if this bugs you, buy the later edition.One of the most interesting sections to me was Darwin’s description of his boyhood and young adult years. It’s comical to hear this scientist describe his obsession with the pastime of shooting things and his mediocre performance in school. A few things signal Darwin’s observational powers or scientific inclination, such as his collection of beetles, but for the most part, he seems an ordinary young person.Also, the book continually references scientists and intellectuals of the time which Darwin comments on. Some of these people were close to Darwin, others he just mentions. Now knowing these people can be somewhat frustrating to the reading, as I can attest to. The book is very much written and directed at his children, who would be familiar with this social context.Even with these minor faults, Darwin does give insight into his own mind, something I’m sure anyone who’s reading a book about Darwin is looking for. The introspection comes at the end of the book. Darwin speaks of his own reasoning capacities and ability to notice things which easily escape the observations of other men.This book is short and a I recommend it as a good place to start for getting a handle on the major events of Darwin’s life and hearing Darwin’s own perspective.

⭐This reprint of Francis Darwin’s edition of the Autobiography is not the full version, but is fascinating nonetheless. Francis omitted some passages in deference to his mother, Darwin’s widow Emma, who marked passages that she did not want published. (Interested readers can go to Nora Barlow’s 20th century edition of the Autobiography for the full text). Francis Darwin’s reminiscences of his father’s working habits and “everyday life” (chapter 4) are wonderful. Chapters 5-18 are largely chronologically arranged extracts from Darwin’s letters with Francis’s commentary.

⭐The lay-out (small pocket size) is a little gem to have and hold in your hand, it is nice to have it in your jacket available anytime to wander mentally into the exceptional personality of Mr. Darwin and his very ‘personal feelings’. The content of the book is above critizism of course !!, i.e. the strikingly emotional and sensitive words of the master-genius himself on his life in good and bad times, with additional descriptions and comments by his son, esp. on life at home with ‘dad’ !But be warned, as far as content is concerned, this is an edited version by his son which is not the uncensurized version of Darwin’s autobiography…For that you have to buy the book of Nora Barlow where all ‘contested’ paragraphs (censured out in Victorian times)are included. However no books or letters on or by Charles Darwin should be overlooked, if presented in such a beautiful handy lay-out…!

⭐My nine-year-old read Dickens books is a very good reader so that Book was fine with him and he loves it.

⭐It is a bad translation back into English of a foreign translation of the original. Many sentences are unintelligible.

⭐Text is clumsy with omissions that are not Francis Darwin’s, or his father’s, I suggest.

⭐this is a bad translation back into English of a foreign translation of the original. The kindle version is incomprehensible . Very poor work in offering this Amazon

Keywords

Free Download The Autobiography of Charles Darwin in PDF format
The Autobiography of Charles Darwin PDF Free Download
Download The Autobiography of Charles Darwin 2020 PDF Free
The Autobiography of Charles Darwin 2020 PDF Free Download
Download The Autobiography of Charles Darwin PDF
Free Download Ebook The Autobiography of Charles Darwin