The Descent of Man

by Charles Darwin, Tom Griffith (Editor), Janet Browne (Introduction)

Overview

In The Descent of Man Darwin addresses many of the issues raised by his notorious Origin of Species: finding in the traits and instincts of animals the origins of the mental abilities of humans, of language, of our social structures and our moral capacities, he attempts to show that there is no clear dividing line between animals and humans. Most importantly, he accounts for what Victorians called the ‘races’ of mankind by means of what he calls sexual selection. This book presents a full explanation of Darwin’s ideas about sexual selection, including his belief that many important characteristics of human beings and animals have emerged in response to competition for mates.

This was a controversial work. Yet Darwin tried hard to avoid being branded as a radical revolutionary. He is steeped in Victorian sensibilities regarding gender and cultural differences: he sees human civilization as a move from barbarous savagery to modern gentlefolk, and women as more emotional and less intellectual than men, thus providing a biological basis for the social assumptions and prejudices of the day. The Descent of Man played a major role in the emergence of social Darwinism.

This complete version of the first edition gives the modern reader an unparalleled opportunity to engage directly with Darwin’s proposals, launched in the midst of continuing controversy over On the Origin of Species.

Janet Browne is the author of the prize-winning biography, Charles Darwin: Voyaging and Charles Darwin: The Power of Place.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781840226980
Publisher:	Wordsworth Editions, Limited
Publication date:	07/28/2013
Series:	Classics of World Literature
Edition description:	UK ed.
Pages:	464
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.70(d)

About the Author

Charles Darwin, a Victorian scientist and naturalist, has become one of the most famous figures of science to date. Born in 1809 to an upper-middle-class medical family, he was destined for a career in either medicine or the Anglican Church. However, he never completed his medical education and his future changed entirely in 1831 when he joined HMS Beagle as a self-financing, independent naturalist. On returning to England in 1836 he began to write up his theories and observations which culminated in a series of books, most famously On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859, where he challenged and contradicted contemporary biological and religious beliefs with two decades worth of scientific investigation and theory. Darwin's theory of natural selection is now the most widely accepted scientific model of how species evolve. He died in 1882 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Damien Hirst is an internationally renowned English artist, who has dominated the art scene in England since the 1990s. Known in particular for his series of works on death, Hirst here provides a contemporary, visual take on Darwin's theory of evolution - the struggle between life and death in nature.

William Bynum is Professor Emeritus of the History of Medicine at University College, London, and was for many years Head of the Academic Unit of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine. He edited the scholarly journal Medical History from 1980 to 2001, and his previous publications include Science and the Practice of Medicine in the Nineteenth Century; The Companion Encyclopedia of the History of Medicine (co-edited with Roy Porter); The Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations (with Roy Porter), The Dictionary of Medical Biography (with Helen Bynum), and History of Medicine: A Very Short Introduction. He lives in Suffolk.

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

Introduction to the Dover Edition v

The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex

Introduction xxv

Part I The Descent Or Origin Of Man

I The Evidence of the Descent of Man From Some Lower Form 3

II Comparison of the Mental Powers of Man and the Lower Animals 17

III Comparison of the Mental Powers of Man and the Lower Animals, continued 40

IV On the Manner of Development of Man from Some Lower Form 64

V On the Development of the Intellectual and Moral Faculties during Primeval and Civilised Times 95

VI On the Affinities and Genealogy of Man 112

VII On the Races of Man 131

Part II Sexual Selection

VIII Principles of Sexual Selection 155

IX Secondary Sexual Characters in the Lower Classes of the Animal Kingdom 188

X Secondary Sexual Characters of Insects 194

XI Insects, continued. Order Lepidoptera 197

XII Secondary Sexual Characters of Fishes, Amphibians, and Reptiles 221

XIII Secondary Sexual Characters of Birds 232

XIV Birds, continued 265

XV Birds, continued 299

XVI Birds, concluded 318

XVII Secondary Sexual Characters of Mammals 353

XVIII Secondary Sexual Characters of Mammals, continued 370

XIX Secondary Sexual Characters of Man 393

XX Secondary Sexual Characters of Man, continued 417

XXI General Summary and Conclusion 436

Index 451

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From the Publisher

One of the ten most significant books. (Sigmund Freud)"