In the current resurgence of interest in the biological basis of animal behavior and social organization, the ideas and questions pursued by Charles Darwin remain fresh and insightful. This is especially true of The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, Darwin's second most important work. This edition is a facsimile reprint of the first printing of the first edition (1871), not previously available in paperback.
The work is divided into two parts. Part One marshals behavioral and morphological evidence to argue that humans evolved from other animals. Darwin shoes that human mental and emotional capacities, far from making human beings unique, are evidence of an animal origin and evolutionary development. Part Two is an extended discussion of the differences between the sexes of many species and how they arose as a result of selection. Here Darwin lays the foundation for much contemporary research by arguing that many characteristics of animals have evolved not in response to the selective pressures exerted by their physical and biological environment, but rather to confer an advantage in sexual competition. These two themes are drawn together in two final chapters on the role of sexual selection in humans.
In their Introduction, Professors Bonner and May discuss the place of The Descent in its own time and relation to current work in biology and other disciplines.
- 964 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
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Information
Publisher
Princeton University PressYear
2008Print ISBN
9780691023694
9780691082783
eBook ISBN
9781400820061
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Table of Contents
- Introduction By John Tyler Bonner and Robert M. May
- A Note on the Text
- The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex: Volume I
- The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex: Volume II
- Index
- Table of the Principal Additions and Corrections to the Edition of 1874
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Yes, you can access The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex by Charles Darwin in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Biological Sciences & Evolution. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.