Excerpt from The A B C of Evolution
During several years experience of lecturing on Evolution I have been more and more impressed with the need of a new primer of the subject. The lecturer or writer on Evolution is too apt to think that the elementary stage is passed. This is a mistake. The field of science is now so large and so thoroughly cut up into distinct plots that a man or woman may have quite a good knowledge of one section, yet need elementary assistance on a general subject like Evolution. The man who could teach me much about wireless telegraphy or chemistry asks me for the plainest possible instruction on Evolution. Moreover, there are other things to study besides science. There are art, literature, history, and political economy. And for most people there is much work to do, and little time to study anything.
Hence I quite understand the demand for a very clear, elementary, and short text-book. There are several manuals in existence, and they have their merits; but they fail in one or other respect to meet the particular need I have in mind. Some are a little out of date. Some are too large. Some are not general enough.