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Old 03-14-2010, 01:22 PM   #74
Ea
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ShellShock View Post
One of the most (in)famous changes is in the very last paragraph. In the first edition it reads:

"There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."

In later editions, Darwin changed it to this (my emphasis):

"There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved."

Either way, it is a beautiful piece of prose.
The line: "... life [...] having been originally breathed into ..." reads to me rather like the second version. That idea of 'breathing life into' sounds to me like something from the bible, and something done by a creator (sorry, but I can't quote where). Darwin just doesn't make it explicit that it's the christian God, but given the historical context it would not be strange to assume so. Looking at it from my POV, in my time, the change doesn't strike me as so controversial.
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