This Thursday, February 12, marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of English scientist, naturalist, and geologist Charles Darwin (1809-1882), the undisputed father of modern biology… even in spite of the bogus controversy that continues to swirl around his theories. Plans for commemorations around the world are detailed at Darwin Day Celebration, but what better way to honor the man and the profound impact he had on the modern world than by reading his own words?

On the Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection or The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life is the 1859 work that launched the controversy. Widely accepted as the seminal work in modern biology, it is Darwin’s explanation of how, through careful observation, he deduced that traits can be selected for within a population of living creatures, and that new species arise from dramatic changes in existing ones. The theory, of course, caused an uproar that can still be heard today, even though subsequent science has indisputably proven the correctness of Darwin’s theory, and has, indeed expanded upon it, revised it, and refined it to the point that Darwin himself with likely be astonished.

Most devotees of science know that the theory of natural selection was independently arrived at, at almost the same time, by Darwin’s friend and colleague British biologist and explorer Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913). In Darwinism: An Exposition of the Theory of Natural Selection with Some of Its Applications, Wallace explores the state of Darwinism as a scientific theory as it stood in 1889, when this book was originally published. Natural selection was under fire as an insufficient explanation for evolution, but Wallace believed that this was only because it was not understood properly. To combat the opponents of natural selection, he offers examples of evolution at work in nature, including a study of variation and coloration, sterility in crossbreeds, fertilization methods in plants, and the importance of the struggle for survival. A good primer for anyone wanting to know more about Darwin’s theory of evolution, Darwinism is written in an easy-to-read style that will appeal to lay readers and scholars alike.

Not all of Darwin’s fans know that he was already famous at the time he published Origin: He had made a name for himself with the book The Voyage of the Beagle (first published in 1839 under the title Journal and Remarks). Much of the basis for his conceptual breakthrough was his research during the five-year journey he undertook on the HMS Beagle, an English exploratory vessel, which sailed South America and the South Pacific from 1831 to 1836. This replica volume reproduces the 1845 second edition of his recounting of that trip, originally called Journal of Researches. Enthralling both as a tale of travel adventure and as a naturalist’s diary, Voyage is even more fascinating for the hints it offers, from decades prior to the publication of Origin, of the observations of the natural world and the thought processes that followed that would combine to revolutionize the field of biology.

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