On the Origin of Species

By: Charles Darwin

Narrated by: Richard Dawkins

Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion and a life-long committed Darwinist, abridges and reads this special audio version of Charles Darwin's famous book. A literally world-changing book, Darwin put forward the anti-religious and scientific idea that humans in fact evolved over millions of generations from animals, starting with fish, all the way up through the ranks to apes, then to our current form.

Dawkin's passion for his subject and hero are clear and exciting for listeners, who, whatever their religious or scientific views, will be intrigued and captivated by this involving production of arguably one of the most important books of all time.

©2006 CSA Telltapes Ltd. (P)2006 CSA Telltapes Ltd.

Don't bother with Unabridged

They cut out all the bits that were hard to listen to (such as the long descriptions of charts you don't get to see with this format) and stuck to the most relevant parts of the book. I really appreciated the editor's notes, because it gives some context for this 157-year-old text (he mentions Lamark quite a bit, or references Lamarkian theories. Nobody without a biology BS will remember who that guy is).

As always, Dawkins is a superb voice actor. He makes it so clear and easy to understand even the most archaic turns of phrase. I started out trying to listen to the (much cheaper) unabridged copy of this audiobook narrated by Bill DeWees. While DeWees spoke clearly, and each word was enunciated clearly, the guy read like he was listing side effects off the back of a laxative box. I made it 2 hours in and had to stop.

Dawkins and this abridged copy held my interest to the very end (not that it's that much longer than 2 hours, but I have a 45 minute commute. That's a long time to listen to someone talk in a sitting.) it kept me awake through my drive, and even had me listening on my headphone in lab.

All in all, I am very pleased.

Fascinating!

Although the scientific language and sophisticated vocabulary used by Darwin can be sometimes difficult to understand by the “layman,” like myself, Dawkins narrates it with much fluidity, making it much easier to follow. I also enjoyed the occasional editor’s notes explaining certain ideas of darwin that we now have more information about, and major discoveries we now know of but were unknown to Darwin, (such as tectonic plates and DNA).

Just plain classic

Darwin was definitely way ahead of his time, absolutely brilliant book. I got this version because of Richard Dawkins, I absolutely love his commentary and feel like he picked the absolute best parts of the original. I got this purley for the entertainment and will get the full version at some point.

Chucky D knew what's up

This is a classic and awesome book, I really enjoyed listening to it. Like Animal Planet in book form.

a must listen-so u think u understand evolution

1) Dawkins does a great job.
2) A great way to fill in the gaps of understanding evolution - not a difficult book, but you need undivided attention - Darwin's writing -Extraordinary

Dawkins Perfectly Narrates This Home Run Text

Would you consider the audio edition of On the Origin of Species to be better than the print version?

YES. If you're a non science student, it can be difficult to plow through a large science text like this. Now that Dawkins reads it so well to you, anyone can just sit back and SOAK IN Darwin's ground breaking revelation.

What was one of the most memorable moments of On the Origin of Species?

A person can actually keep pace with Darwin's realizations that the other naturalist of his time were flat WRONG.

What does Richard Dawkins bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Richard Dawkins obviously feels strongly about Darwin's work, he brings energy and clairity.

Any additional comments?

For me, it would have been a tough time reading a tome like this. It would have sat half read for months or even years. Having it narrated by Dawkins was a treat and the book was consumed in 3 days.

A Classic worth reading

Would you listen to On the Origin of Species again? Why?

A masterpiece!! Worth reading.
Its interesting how current are the concepts and how easyble they are to be followed.
Simple a must have Reading...

Very readable story of how we got here.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The book was extremely well argued without being too technical. Not at all what I expected.

What about Richard Dawkins’s performance did you like?

Well paced and well articulated.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

How we got here.

Misleading Title

If you could sum up On the Origin of Species in three words, what would they be?

Weak Evolution Foundation

What does Richard Dawkins bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Nothing.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Darwin admits his evidence could just as easily be used to disprove his theory.

Any additional comments?

I bought this book after finding myself in the awkward position of disparaging Darwin in an online forum without having read the book. I based my position on having read an article citing a forward by Darwin in an early edition, which has since been removed (to me, a telling action) linking natural selection to uniformitarianism. It was also my personal opinion that heterosexual reproduction could not evolve via natural selection and if it did it would be a disadvantage in the short run.

So I got the abridged version and from my biased viewpoint believe it is mis-titled. There is no real examination of the origin of species or how one species could beget another, merely implication. Within the scope of natural selection Darwin points out examples in nature that doubters might use to discredit his theory and explains why he believes these instances actually fit his theory. I go with the doubters.

It is an interesting book, however, and didn't bore me. Some of his examples were fascinating. Actually, I think everybody that has been taught evolution as fact should read the work it was based upon. Might be a surprise.

Genius

Brilliant. Amazing how spot on Darwin was for being seminal work. Written clearly allowing a layman to understand. Truly the greatest idea man has ever had.