When Charles Darwin first published his theory of biological evolution in 1859, it started a revolution in the life sciences. The theory had its ups and downs, but time after time it was found that new discoveries, once thought to weaken the theory, instead actually strengthened it. Today, the basics of evolutionary theory are still pretty much as Darwin laid them out a hundred and forty years ago. The development of evolutionary theory from a raw idea to one of the strongest theories in modern science is one of the great stories of the history of science.
I have a sizable collection of books on evolutionary theory, its various aspects, and its history. Follow the links below to get to different parts of my evolution library.
Charles Darwin wrote many books during his life. I have several of these, including his three greatest works.
Darwin has also been the subject of many biographies and other books over the years.
While Darwin foresaw nearly every major facet of evolutionary theory in his writings, a great many scientists have spent millions of hours fleshing out his theory. This makes the history of evolutionary theory a fascinating topic in itself.
Some scientists, for good and honest reasons, have also opposed some of Darwin's ideas. That they proved to be wrong does not make them any less important in the history of evolutionary theory.
In recent years, many new books have been written supporting evolutionary theory and showing how it relates to the natural world. We're only just beginning to explore and understand the full scope and power of the theory.
Unfortunately, you can't be interested in evolutionary theory for long without bumping into those who would deny it for personal or religious reasons: creationists! Not content to simply believe as they choose, they want to get their flawed "creation science" taught in public schools as a viable alternative to Darwin's theory of evolution. I've attempted to fight creationism myself in a small way, and I can direct you to a number of Web links with much better anti-creationism resources.
