A special anniversary edition with a cover by controversial artist Damien Hirst §This landmark work of scientific and philosophical thought sets forth Charles Darwin?s pioneering theory of evolution and the interdependence of species. On the Origin of Species had an immediate and profound impact on the literature and ideas of his contemporaries. Without setting out to be controversial, Darwin became quite possibly the most revolutionary writer of the Victorian age, overturning the widely held religious and scientific beliefs of his time. §