2017 Reprint of 1956 Abridged Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition software. This edition is abridged and edited for easier access to Darwin's work, the original edition of which spanned over 500 pages. Darwin's On the Origin of Species is arguably the most influential book ever published in the history of science. Darwin's book introduced the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection. It presented a body of evidence that the diversity of life arose by common descent through a branching pattern of evolution. Darwin included evidence that he had gathered on the Beagle expedition in the 1830s and his subsequent findings from research, correspondence, and experimentation. This classic forever transformed the way we look at our species, revolutionized the course of science, and continues to transform our views of the world.