These are the collected works of Charles Darwin, the man whose ideas shocked the 19th-century world--and whose works are still considered shocking by some today. Full reprints of On the Origin of Species, The Voyage of the Beagle, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, and The Descent of Man, have now been supplemented with the crucial indices that will allow our volume to stand as the best value.

Watson's commentary seeks to "provide some historical context and connection to current science, as well as some personal observations about how Darwin's writing affected (his) intellectual development" (Nature). Charles Darwin was training to be a clergyman when he undertook his famous voyage on the Beagle. On that journey, the islands and lagoons of South America became the cathedral where young Darwin explored the mysteries of life. This volume--now in paperback--is an incredible value for modern seekers of all ages. About the author James D. Watson received the Nobel Prize in 1962 for determining the structure of DNA, the building blocks of life. As a fellow pioneer and explorer of the most fundamental riddles about the nature of life, he has a lot in common with Charles Darwin.