Por Jordi M. Antolí Martínez[i]
Universidad de Alicante
Coordinador del Comité Técnico de Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research (NAER)
Palabras clave: NAER, Ciencia, retórica
WHEN on board H.M.S. ‘Beagle,’ as naturalist, I was much struck with certain facts in the distribution of the inhabitants of South America, and in the geological relations of the present to the past inhabitants of that continent. These facts seemed to me to throw some light on the origin of species— that mystery of mysteries, as it has been called by one of our greatest philosophers. On my return home, it occurred to me, in 1837, that something might perhaps be made out on this question by patiently accumulating and reflecting on all sorts of facts which could possibly have any bearing on it. After five years’ work I allowed myself to speculate on the subject, and drew up some short notes; these I enlarged in 1844 into a sketch of the conclusions, which then seemed to me probable: from that period to the present day I have steadily pursued the same object. I hope that I may be excused for entering on these personal details, as I give them to show that I have not been hasty in coming to a decision.
El fragmento anterior no es el inicio una buena novela de viajes y aventuras, aunque como aquella es capaz de despertar nuestra curiosidad y de atraparnos en la lectura. Tampoco es un libro de memorias o un ensayo, aunque a través de las palabras podamos entrever el pensamiento y las experiencias de su autor. Como deben haber imaginado, el fragmento anterior abre la introducción a una de las obras de literatura científica más trascendentes y citadas en la historia de las ciencias naturales: On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, de Charles Darwin (1859).