On the Origin of Species

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, also known as The Origin of Species, is a book first published in 1859 by Charles Darwin. It sets out arguments for the evolution of species in the natural world through the process of natural selection, as opposed to their sudden introduction to the world through an act of special creation by a god.

In 2009, Living Waters Ministries published an abridged "150th Anniversary Edition" with a 54-page "Special Introduction" by Ray Comfort, and distributed free copies at several universities. Although Living Waters' website lied that "nothing has been removed from Darwin's original work", four chapters detailing Darwin's evidence of evolution were removed. Darwin biographer David Quammen wrote of this introduction:


 * Comfort's confused polemic, disguised as an informational Introduction but full of mistakes, half truths, untruths, muddled logic, old creationist arguments, misleadingly excerpted quotations, and ill-framed analogies — plus a good dose of fire and brimstone at the end — will do a severe disservice to anyone who takes it for an entryway to Darwin's great book.

In response to this stunt, the National Center for Science Education launched a Don't diss Darwin campaign, whose website includes an analysis of what Comfort's introduction got wrong.