The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals

by Charles Darwin

Overview

When this monograph was first published in 1872, there already existed a good deal of thought on facial expression via the study of physiognomy; this work, notes Charles Darwin (1809–82), was full of 'surprising nonsense'. Setting aside the assumption of previous studies that human facial muscles were created specifically for a range of expressions unique to the species, Darwin sets out here to make a systematic study of both human and animal expression. The range of his research is extraordinarily wide: he not only experimented on himself, but observed infants, consulted doctors in psychiatric hospitals and sent out requests to missionaries and travellers for first-hand notes on the expressions of aboriginal peoples. Learned, meticulous and illustrated with an impressive array of drawings, photographs and engravings, Darwin's work stands as an important contribution to the study of human behaviour and its origins.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108061834
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/26/2013
Series:	Cambridge Library Collection - Darwin, Evolution and Genetics
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 5.50(h) x 1.00(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.

Joe Cain is Senior Lecturer in History and Philosophy of Biology at University College London (UCL). His expertise is in the history of evolutionary studies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Darwin and historical memory. He is also director of the "Voices" oral history project at UCL, and an expert on the Rhinogradentia, a spectacular group of mammals. His recent books include Descended from Darwin (2008) with Michael Ruse, Sewell Wright Taught Me (2007) and Exploring the Borderlands: Documents of the Committee on Common Problems of Genetics, Paleontology, and Systematics, 1943-1944 (2004).

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; 1. General principles of expression; 2. General principles of expression (continued); 3. General principles of expression (concluded); 4. Means of expression in animals; 5. Special expressions of animals; 6. Special expressions of man: suffering and weeping; 7. Low spirits, anxiety, grief, dejection, despair; 8. Joy, high spirits, love, tender feelings, devotion; 9. Reflection, meditation, ill-temper, sulkiness, determination; 10. Hatred and anger; 11. Disdain, contempt, disgust, guilt, pride, etc.; 12. Surprise, astonishment, fear, horror; 13. Self-attention, shame, shyness, modesty, blushing; 14. Concluding remarks and summary; Index.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

" He who admits, on general grounds, that the structure and habits of all animals have been gradually evolved will look at the whole subject of Expression in a new and interesting light."
-Charles Darwin

Editorial Reviews

Ekman (psychology, UC San Francisco) presents a work that was well known during Darwin's lifetime, providing notes throughout, as well as an introduction, afterword, and appendices. Darwin's text itself goes into great detail describing facial and bodily expressions corresponding to dozens of emotions in humans, dogs, horses, apes, and other animals. Photographs, drawings and woodcuts illustrate the expressions described. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

Darwin's most readable and human book, full of enchanting observations, provocative theories, and remarkable photographs....This new comprehensive edition of "Expression" will introduce a new generation of readers to Darwin's masterpiece, undiminished and intensely relevant even 125 years after publication. -- Oliver Sacks

Oliver Sacks

"He who admits, on general grounds, that the structure and habits of all animals have been gradually evolved will look at the whole subject of Expression in a new and interesting light."
-Charles Darwin

From the Publisher