Originally published anonymously in 1844, "Vestiges" was the first attempt to connect the natural sciences to a history of creation. This volume includes Chambers's earliest works on cosmology, an essay on Darwin and an autobiographical essay. It also features a new introduction by James Secord.

With a new introduction by James Secord, a bibliography of reviews and a new index, this volume adds to "Vestiges" and "Explanations" Chambers's earliest works on cosmology, an essay on Darwin, and an autobiographical essay, raising important issues about the changing meanings of popular science and religion and the rise of secular ideologies in Western culture.