The Descent of Man - Charles Darwin

Applying his controversial theory of evolution to the origins of the human species, Charles Darwin's The Descent of Man was the culmination of his life's work. This Penguin Classics edition is edited with an introduction by James Moore and Adrian Desmond.In The Origin of Species, 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.Charles Darwin (1809-82), a Victorian scientist and naturalist, has become one of the most famous figures of science to date. The advent of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859 challenged and contradicted all contemporary biological and religious beliefs.If you enjoyed The Descent of Man, you might like Darwin's On the Origin of Species, also available in Penguin Classics.

Published: 2004-02-26 (Penguin Classics)

ISBN: 9780140436310

Language: English

Format: paper, 864 pages

Goodreads' rating: -

Genres

Classics Evolution Philosophy Biology Science Nonfiction

Reviews

Tish rated it

This book tells us about our relations with other creatures of this planet Earth. How we connected to them. How this intelligency developed by us through a long period of time.We had to bear a lot . After reading this book you have to think about your our life , we started respect it, (Earth, Animals, Birds, other creatures of this planet) as we know we are all connected to each other.

Shane rated it

Going into this work, I was under the impression that it mainly focused on human evolution. That isn't entirely the case. There are chapters on human evolution, to be sure, but the lengthiest writings have to do with sexual selection in non-human species (there are three or four chapters on birds alone). This fact was my first disappointment.My second disappointment is many of Darwin's remarks on the differences between the sexes in humans. A lot of his hypotheses in this regard are severely dated and, frankly, cringe-worthy.Nevertheless, the historical influence of Darwin, and a view of the incipient ideas that eventually form modern evolutionary theory, make this an informative read.

Coop rated it

Darwin'in 'Türlerin Kökeni' kitabna youn göndermelerin olduu, benim Türlerin Kökeninden daha fazla ilgimi çekmi olan(imdilik yarsndaym, farkl çevirilerini kontrol ediyorum), insann dünya üzerindeki evrimini kademeler halinde inceleyen kitap. Okurken aklma en çok Freud'un Totem ve Tabu kitab geldi. Evrim teorisine giri yapmaya çalan biri olarak kitabn giri seviyesinde olduunu yinelemem gerektiini düünüyorum. Buradan sonra Türlerin Kökenine ve Darwin hakknda yazlm eletirilere gitmeyi düünüyorum. Bilim ve sanatta bir çok alanla ilgilenmeye çalan biri olarak, biyoloji benim için oldukça skc ve ar ilerleyen bir dald. Doal seçilim, Cinsel seçilim vb. Ilgi alanlaryla dikkatimi çekmeyi baard. Kitab okurken sk sk altn çizdiim yerler oldu ve onlardan biriyle kapatyorum. Okuduum Onur Yaynlar, ortalama bir çeviriye sahipti, 3-5 adet çizim yer alyor kitapta. Bu çizimlerin daha fazlasn olmasn isterdim. Piyasada bu çevirinin daha iyi bir alternatifi var m merak ediyorum açkcas. Olmad ingilizce aslnda okunmas gerekiyor.nsann ilk erkek atalarnn, daha yukarda da açkladmz gibi, olaslkla büyük köpek dileri vard; ama onlar dümanlaryla ya da rakipleriyle döümek için giderek daha çok talar, sopalar ve daha baka silahlar kullanmay adet edindikleri ölçüde çenelerini ve dilerini daha az kullandlar. Bu durumda çenelerin ve dilerin büyüklüünde, saysz benzer durumlarn bizi inandraca gibi bir azalma oldu.15 Ekim 2017stanbul