Understanding Evolution in Darwin's "Origin" The Emerging Context of Evolutionary Thinking

“This textbook challenges those who teach evolution to science students to use the primary sources and to attend to the historical context of science. ... The contributors include some of the most significant historians and philosophers in the field— Bob Richards, Janet Browne ... amongst others. … Prestes is thus quite correct in the statement she makes early in the volume: 'The book holds immense educational value and can offer valuable insights and opportunities for learning' ... .” (Piers J. Hale, Journal of the History of Biology, Vol. 58 (2), 2025)

Prestes graduated in Biological Sciences at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (1983). She worked in marine biology research and as a high school biology teacher, mainly in public schools. She raised her first child during the Specialization in History of Science and Epistemology at the State University of Campinas (1992) and the Master's in Environmental Science at the University of São Paulo (1997). She did her PhD at the Faculty of Education at the University of São Paulo (2003), with a sandwich Doctorate (CNPq 2002) at the Sphere-REHSEIS at the University of Paris 7 and with the birth of her second child. She is an Associate Professor at the Department of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology of the Institute of Biosciences of the University of São Paulo, where she coordinates the Laboratory of History of Biology and Teaching (LaHBE). She is a former president of the Brazilian Association of Philosophy and History of Biology (ABFHiB) and current editor of the Brazilian journal Filosofia e História da Biologia. Her research focuses on the generation of living beings, especially the modes of observation and experiments in the 17th and 18th centuries. Currently, she is developing studies on Darwin's and Aristotle's works.