Nikolay N. Vorontsov

The book is written by a well-known evolutionary biologist, zoologist and ecologist N. N. Vorontsov and has evolved out of the course, «Theory of Evolution», which is given at the biophysical sub-department of the physical department of the Moscow State University.

The book traces in detail the development of the idea of evolution which has first appeared millenniums before Darwin and which is one of the few fundamental ideas in general science which have predetermined the mentality of the late XDCtli and XXth century. All stages of development of the idea of evolution, starting with the primeval society, are analysed. A special accent is made on the origin, development and perception of Darwinism and its influence on all the natural sciences.

The modem evolution biology has made a long step from the Darwinism of the late XIX century. The last chapters of the book demonstrate how the discoveries in today’s molecular biology, genetics and various other disciplines prepare the substrate for the new synthesis in history of evolutionism.

The book is full of different interesting and instructive historical details, which are not well-known, and contains a large number of illustrations.