Origin of The Species

You can write a reaction paper on Charles Darwin's The Origin of the Species, just as if you lived during Darwin's time! See how this is done in the SAMPLE Origin of the Species excerpt below:

Last month a most curious book called The Origin of the Species appeared in publication. Charles Darwins The Origin of the Species has already caused quite a stir in the London market, having sold out the first printing on its first day. Now that England has had a chance to digest Mr. Darwin's weighty tome, it is worth examining both the implications of his theories and the scientific validity by which he makes these extraordinary claims. Already The Origin of the Species has been called blasphemous in various circles. Before such a judgment can be made by your humble reviewer, the book must be examined for its merits. Mr. Darwin's theories, as all of England is waking up to, are revolutionary, threatening to destroy our concept of Creation. Does The Origin of the Species hold the promise of a new understanding, a modern-day Copernican Revolution, or shall we consign it to the dustbin of history?

Mr. Darwin bases The Origin of the Species largely on his term of adventure aboard the H.M.S. Beagle, a South Seas voyage now some two-and-a-half decades in the past. Mr. Darwin spent five years aboard the Beagle as an amateur naturalist, observing the flora and fauna of South America and its environs, especially the Galapagos Islands. It is from these observations that Mr. Darwin advances his theory of natural selection, spurred on by similar conclusions reached by Mr. Wallace in the Malay Peninsula.

The Origin of the Species proper opens with an examination of domestication. Dogs, cats, and horses, especially, have been bred for specific characteristics for centuries in the civilized world. The art of animal husbandry attempts to produce certain specific improvements, such as stronger and faster racehorses, and breeders of domestic animals can point out their successes. "Breeders habitually speak of an animal's organization as something plastic, which they can model almost as they please". If it possible for man to produce an animal of impeccable pedigree, crossing two variations to produce a superior animal, is it not possible, Mr. Darwin theorizes, that the same occurs naturally?