The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex

by Charles Darwin

Overview

In The Origin of Species, (1859), Charles Darwin refused to discuss human evolution, believing the subject too 'surrounded with prejudices'. He had been reworking his notes since the 1830s, but only with trepidation did he finally publish The Descent of Man in 1871. The book notoriously put apes in our family tree and made the races one family, diversified by 'sexual selection' -- Darwin's provocative theory that female choice among competing males leads to diverging racial characteristics. Named by Sigmund Freud as 'one of the ten most significant books' ever written, Darwin's Descent of Man continues to shape the way we think about what it is that makes us uniquely human. In their introduction, James Moore and Adrian Desmond, acclaimed biographers of Charles Darwin, call for a radical re-assessment of the book, arguing that its core ideas on race were fired by Darwin's hatred of slavery. The text is the second and definitive edition and this volume also contains suggestions for further reading, a chronology and biographical sketches of prominent individuals mentioned.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781023055635
Publisher:	Anson Street Press
Publication date:	03/28/2025
Pages:	818
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.62(d)

About the Author

John Tyler Bonner and Robert M. May are Professors of Biology at Princeton University.

Date of Birth:

February 12, 1809

Date of Death:

April 19, 1882

Place of Birth:

Shrewsbury, England

Place of Death:

London, England

Education:

B.A. in Theology, Christ¿s College, Cambridge University, 1831

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgements	vii
	Chronology	viii
	Introduction	xi
	Further Reading	lix
	Note on the Text	lxv
	The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex	1
	Biographical Register	695
	Index	715

Editorial Reviews

"[This work] is second only in importance to the Origin of Species . . . among Darwin's works and the book in which he uses the word evolution for the first time."

Natural History

"[This work] is second only in importance to the Origin of Species . . . among Darwin's works and the book in which he uses the word evolution for the first time."-- "Natural History"

From the Publisher

"[This work] is second only in importance to the Origin of Species . . . among Darwin's works and the book in which he uses the word evolution for the first time."

Natural History