Book on the history of Darwin's discoveries and development of his theory This question is a book request. I am wondering if there are any books with these elements: * Tells the history of Darwin's discoveries. * Captures Darwin's changing views of the origins of species, because of his discoveries and his thinking on the subject. * Is a modern text but incorporates some of Darwin's writings (e.g. from the Voyage of the Beagle, etc). * * * Note: I am _not_ asking for a book that is just explaining the process of natural selection, rather I am looking for a historical book about Darwin's discoveries and the inception and development and eventually his publication of his theory of natural selection.

I'm not certain it fills every element of your question, but I really enjoyed Michael Ruse's "The Darwinian Revolution: Science Red in Tooth and Claw."

It's especially good for setting up the collection of worldviews that predated Darwin, and the influence on him by both biologists/anatomists as well as very crucially geologists like Charles Lyell (Darwin really thought of himself more as a geologist; the long time prior to publishing _Origin_ was largely because he was trying to build up some scientific chops as a biologist).

The aspect it is most likely to lack is references to original source material from Darwin. While it certainly draws on such writings, I don't recall it actually containing reproductions of those writings, at least not on a substantial basis.

Importantly, however, this book _is not a biography_ \- it is a history of the scientific community at the time, centered around Darwin and _Origin_ and placing them in relevant context.