Master Dog Trainer Reading Series: The Origin Of Species

Charles Darwin was a British naturalist, biologist and geologist. His studies resulted in the philosophy of science called "evolution". You have probably heard about his works, but have you read them? I have, and I found them to be very useful as a framework for looking at animal behavior. Other science philosophies have spun out of his original concepts. 

Unless you are a science geek, you won't know that there are serious problems with the basic theory of evolution that are stumping even its most devoted defenders (and if you didn't know that, and aren't fluent in the disputes, then that is evidence that you haven't done enough study about animal behavior). But that is what science is about, one big argument over the decades and centuries. While you can't do a double blind test in a laboratory about what happened before humans even existed, that doesn't mean you can't theorize some of the concepts and see what you can find. For example, Darwin had no understanding of DNA. 

The understanding of evolution isn't going to help you train a dog. What is going to help you is all the other information contained in Darwin's writings. While many of his proposals have been debunked, which should be no surprise considering his Origin of Species was written in 1859,  his works are still an essential read if you are going to study animal behavior. It will come up again and again in all the science you read. Science can best be viewed as one big argument over a topic, oftentimes never completely settled. You should be part of that argument.

So, go ahead and buy The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

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