Darwin's masterwork and the theory of evolution by natural selection. The panel examines the book's argument, its reception, and its status as arguably the most important scientific work ever published.
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Highlights
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Great scientific works often delay publication because their authors fear social consequences
Darwin sat on his theory for 20 years because he understood its implications would devastate the religious worldview he had been raised in. He called it 'like confessing a murder.'
Evolution by natural selection is the most consequential idea in human history
The panel argues that Darwin's theory changed not just biology but philosophy, theology, psychology, and social science. No other single idea has so thoroughly reshaped human self-understanding.