The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection: or, The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life

THE biology book, essential reading -but a but tedious. Having it read to me was perfect. The sound and extensive reasoning by Darwin really came to life.

The work is not only interesting for people interested in biology or evolution theory.

The way Darwin addresses objections that can (and still are) be raised, the way he points out difficulties and weak points in his theory and discusses those are an example of the way scientist ought to explain and defend their theories.

I'm a molecular biologist by profession, so I thought it would be fun to listen to what is widely considered THE foundational work of modern biology. While interesting for me from a historical standpoint—it's truly breathtaking how complete a conceptual framework the Origin provided more than a century and a half ago, and how thoroughly Darwin anticipated and refuted the possible objections to his theory—unless you really want to hear all of the examples Mr. Darwin deploys to buttress his theory of natural selection, I would recommend a more recent treatment of the topic. Or listen through an abridged edition of The Origin of Species, such as the one narrated by Richard Dawkins. The language is, in most places, exceptionally dry, and the narrator doesn't do the material any favors. However, it is one of the great achievements of human reason, so if you are patient and able to pay close attention to the dense language, this will ultimately be worth your time.

I'm sure this historically groundbreaking work is essential listening for people studying the subject, but as an interested layperson I should have gone with a more recent work studying the work of Darwin and its impact on our understanding of evolution.
This work is quite a repetitive overview of his research which though interesting, was not exactly easy to listen to and I found my attention wandering during the narration.

Being fascinated by evolution and actively studying it, Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection is simply a must-listen. Remind yourself of the time at which Darwin published this book and it becomes even more astounding. I would not recommend this book for anyone who is curious about evolution and natural selection as this can get very dry, very quickly. I would try an abridged version if you don't want to hear every little detail about the book.

The narrator left a lot to be desired and seemed to have to force his way through the book and did not at least sound like there was an interest on his part in the subject matter.