Easily the most influential book published in the nineteenthcentury, Darwin’s The Origin of Species is also that mostunusual phenomenon, an altogether readable discussion of ascientific subject. On its appearance in 1859 it was immediatelyrecognized by enthusiasts and detractors alike as a work of thegreatest importance: the revolutionary theory of evolution by meansof natural selection that it presented provoked a furious reactionthat continues to this day. The Origin of Species is here published together withDarwin’s earlier Voyage of the ‘Beagle’. This 1839 accountof the journeys to South America and the Pacific islands that firstput Darwin on the track of his remarkable theories derives an addedcharm from his vivid de*ion of his travels in exotic placesand his eye for the piquant detail.

Starred Review。 What Aczel did for mathematician Fermat（Fermat’s Last Theorem）he now does for Descartes in this splendidstudy about the French philosopher and mathematician （1596–1650）most famous for his paradigm-smashing declaration， “I think;therefore， I am。” Part historical sketch， part biography and partdetective story， Aczel’s chronicle of Descartes’s hidden workhinges on his lost secret notebook。 Of 16 pages of codedmanu*， one and a half were copied in 1676 by fellowphilosopher and mathematician Leibniz。 For him， Descartes’sin*ion of the cryptic letters“GFRC” immediately revealed hisassociation with the occult fraternity of the Rosicrucians—Leibnizwas also a member。 The notebook also revealed to Leibniz adiscovery made by Descartes that would have transformedmathematics。 As Aczel so deftly demonstrates， Descartes'smathematical theories were paths to an understanding the order andmystery of the cosmos， and he kept the notebook hidden because itcont

Perhaps the most readable and accessible of the great works ofscientific imagination, The Origin of Species sold out on the dayit was published in 1859. Theologians quickly labeled CharlesDarwin the most dangerous man in England, and, as the SaturdayReview noted, the uproar over the book quickly "passed beyond thebounds of the study and lecture-room into the drawing-room and thepublic street." Yet, after reading it, Darwin's friend andcolleague T. H. Huxley had a different reaction: "How extremelystupid not to have thought of that." Based largely on Darwin's experience as a naturalist while on afive-year voyage aboard H.M.S. Beagle, The Origin of Species setforth a theory of evolution and natural selection that challengedcontemporary beliefs about divine providence and the immutabilityof species. A landmark contribution to philosophical and scientificthought, this edition also includes an introductory historicalsketch and a glossary Darwin later added to the originaltext. Charles Darwin grew up considered,