Little Masterpieces Of Science The Naturalist As Interpreter And Seer

The present volume offers from the classic pages of Chalres Darwin's works, including his summary of the argument of "The Origin of Species," his account of how that book came to be written, and his recapitulation of "The Descent of Man." All this affords a supreme lesson as to the value of observation with a purpose. When Darwin was confronted with an organ or trait which puzzled him, he was wont to ask, What use can it have had? And always the answer was that every new peculiarity of plant, or beast, is seized upon and held whenever it confers advantage in the unceasing conflict for place and food. No hue of scale or plume, no curve of beak or note of song, but has served a purpose in the plot of life, or advanced the action in a drama where the penalty for failure is extinction. Aside from Darwin, the book also features essays written by Alfred R. Wallace, Thomas H. Huxley, Leland O. Howard, and George Iles

Little Masterpieces of Science: The Naturalist as Interpreter and Seer, has been regarded as significant work throughout human history, and in order to ensure that this work is never lost, we have taken steps to ensure its preservation by republishing this book in a contemporary format for both current and future generations. This entire book has been retyped, redesigned, and reformatted. Since these books are not made from scanned copies, the text is readable and clear.

Excerpt from Little Masterpieces of Science: The Skies and the Earth Anne Not only has man been winning knowl edge oi her in a thousand fields of exploration, ex periment and philosophy, but each of the myriad strands in her skein is traced as subtly bound to every other in ways unimaginable to the most piercing intellects of eras past. Some of the finest of Pope's verse was inspired in the garden he loved to pace, but how much more he would see around him there were he living now! He would find the whole scheme of heavens and earth implicated in that garden's beauty. Its soil telling of forces of storm and heat and chemic war, all at work, in time too extended for compu tation, to grind primeval rock to fertility. He would see the incomparable tints of every flower conferred by diverse elements aflame in an orb a celestial diameter away; elements akin to the fiower's own substance. Other indebtedness would be detected in the tribes oi* buzzing insects surrounding each blossom, insects, which, while sipping a flower, lend vital aid in continu ing its race. No hue or scent here without its use in enticement of this winged ministry 2 And were the poet's garden only various enough in its tenantry, he might count among his flowers many strictly conforming to the mould of their insect visitors. Wheresoever he might turn his eye in the whole realm of Nature he would see it fuller, richer; its every province more intimately interlaced than when he penned his eloquent Essay on Man. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The present volume offers from the classic pages of Chalres Darwin's works, including his summary of the argument of "The Origin of Species," his account of how that book came to be written, and his recapitulation of "The Descent of Man." All this affords a supreme lesson as to the value of observation with a purpose. When Darwin was confronted with an organ or trait which puzzled him, he was wont to ask, What use can it have had? And always the answer was that every new peculiarity of plant, or beast, is seized upon and held whenever it confers advantage in the unceasing conflict for place and food. No hue of scale or plume, no curve of beak or note of song, but has served a purpose in the plot of life, or advanced the action in a drama where the penalty for failure is extinction. Aside from Darwin, the book also features essays written by Alfred R. Wallace, Thomas H. Huxley, Leland O. Howard, and George Iles