The Evolution of Evolution: From the Pre-Socratics to the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis

Guide to an exhibit held by Watkinson Library, 2004, to celebrate the Trinity College Library’s One Millionth Volume. In concise fashion, this exhibition traces the beginnings of a scientific approach to the natural world among the early Greek philosophers, examines in some depth the revolutionary work of Charles Darwin, and concludes with the integrated approach to evolution that developed in the work of naturalists and experimental geneticists during the mid-20th century. The display includes many first editions and landmarks texts that are central in the history of biological thought, the centerpiece being the Library’s millionth volume, the first American edition of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (New York, 1860)