Where to start learning Darwinian evolution?

The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution by Carl Zimmer

http://carlzimmer.com/books/tangledbank/index.html

Zimmer's 'Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea ' is an excellent place to start as it covers the history of the field and its development. This is a companion to the PBS television series.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/about/book.html

http://carlzimmer.com/books/evolution/index.html

Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why it Matters by Donald Prothero is one of the best books on the subject of evolutionary paleontology and where the study of geology and fossils provides evidence.

Part I examines evolution as a foundation to biology. He gives a good explanation of cladistics.

Part II is a survey of the major features of the fossil record from the origins of life to the appearance of humans. This covers the use of microfossils that provide greater continuity than vertebrate megafossils

http://ncse.com/rncse/29/3/review-evolution-what-f...

The Rough Guide to Evolution by Mark Pallen provides a basic introductory read for the newcomer to the subject of evolution. This reads like a concise guide through the concepts and their impacts on everyday life.

http://roughguidetoevolution.blogspot.com/

"The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time' By Jonathan Weiner who specifically covers the Grant’s research in Galapagos finch beak adaptation in direct response to observed climate variations. This book earned the Pulitzer for general non-fiction in 1995.

http://www.pulitzer.org/works/1995-General-Nonfict...

How and Why Species Multiply. The Radiation of Darwin's Finches by Peter & Rosemary Grant. Not a beginners book but worth reading. Data for the evolutionary history of fourteen different species from a shared ancestor three million years ago. The Grants show how repeated cycles of speciation involved adaptive change through natural selection on beak size and shape, and divergence in songs.

http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8486.html

If you are intent on learning about evolution, I would not advise reading Darwin's book. I have read it, and while it shows Darwin's brilliance and that he was ahead of its time, it is outdated. Much has been learned since Darwin published Origin of Species, and there are better explanations in more recent writing that incorporate 150yrs of knowledge that Darwin didn't have access to. Furthermore, he was not correct on every point.

Dawkins is a decent read as well, but some people respond negatively to his atheist anti-religion arguments he makes at times and it turns them off understanding anything else he writes.

To start learning about evolution, don't call it "darwinian" evolution. This in reality means little in science, and is more an anti-evolution term by creationist to give focus on Darwin. I would avoid books that speak of "Darwinian" evolution. The only time that term may ever be mentioned is in respect to punctuated equilibrium and then its still up for philosophical debate.

Talk Origins website is a great place to get started, and they have Darwin's book online if you want to read it (although I wouldn't unless I already understood evolution).

http://www.talkorigins.org/origins/faqs-evolution....

Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne or any biology textbook.