© 2015–2026 Charles H. Pence and collaborators, content released under CC-BY-NC-SA unless otherwise noted
All readings are available in PDF format, online, via the button just below. The password for this site is “darwin” (all lowercase). There is a lot of reading here – I wanted to give you as much of a chance as I could to engage with the material. That said, the readings are listed in something like their “order of importance,” and I absolutely understand if you won’t be able to read all of the reading for each day. For the Origin of Species on the first day, I’ve posted the entire book in the original, first edition. Only a few chapters are recommended, but the whole thing is really interesting!
There will be slides to go with each day of the course, which I will post as I have them ready – the headings for each day will be hyperlinks that go to the slides.
Reading: Origin of Species (1859), ch. 1–4, 14; M. J. S. Hodge, “Natural Selection as a Causal, Empirical, and Probabilistic Theory” (1987)
Reading: R. C. Lewontin, “Adaptation” (1978); S. J. Gould and R. C. Lewontin, “The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptationist Programme” (1979); S. K. Mills and J. Beatty, “The Propensity Interpretation of Fitness” (1979)
Reading: D. L. Hull, “A Matter of Individuality” (1978); K. de Queiroz, “Different Species Problems and Their Resolution” (2005); J. Justus, “The Diversities of Biodiversity” (2010)
Reading: D. S. Moore, “Current Thinking About Nature and Nurture” (2013); V. G. Hardcastle, “Neurobiology” (2007); M. Ruse, “Does Darwinian Evolution Mean We Are Here By Chance?” (2016)