Product Description

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. Though less well known than The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man continues to shape the way we think about what it is that makes us uniquely human.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #187570 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-29
• Released on: 2004-06-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 864 pages

Review
One of the ten most significant books. -- Sigmund Freud

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

About the Author
Charles Darwin (1809–1882) was an evolutionary biologist, best known for his controversial and ground-breaking The Origin of Species (1859).

James Moore is a reader in history of science and technology at the Open University.

Adrian Desmond is an honorary research fellow in the Biology Department at University College London.

Customer Reviews

Excellent historical review
While I would never presume - as some reviewers might - to misstate what is said in this classic volume and then presume to suggest that "now you don't need to read the book," I will say that this is an excellent edition of a classic work. All who have any interest in the history of Darwinian evolution and particularly the historical views of the evolution of man will find this fascinating reading, particularly if the context can be juxtaposed with what has been discovered since Darwin's time. Of course, times have changed, our hopefully less euro-centric views have been altered and there has been considerable progress through the generations since the original publication by Darwin, and that makes the progress of human knowledge all the more fascinating, as well as the insight Darwin obviously possessed in his day. This one's a "must-read" for anyone interested in the history of science.

More than meets the highest standards.
How is it possible that anyone could be as ignorant as Rondeltap and give this great classic less than 5 stars? Given that it was written in the middle of the 19th Century, it more than meets the highest scientific standards of its time. Furthermore, except perhaps for Darwin's own Origin, it is arguably one of the most important works of its era. When we find that the writings of Marx, Kant and many other giants of that Century can no longer instruct us, we shall find this one still penetratingly relevant.

Interesting view into the views of the late 19th Century
Although there are many racist and sexist ideas, this was the climate in which Darwin wrote this book. Many of the details are grossly in error, but the book was written over 100 years ago. Many advances in knowledge have been made since then. The basic premise, and the fact that Darwin looked to the African apes as a point of origin for humans is the real beauty of the book. Darwin is many times falsely blamed for "Social Darwinism" which he never proposed nor advocated. Just because someone uses Darwin as a justification for negative ideas and or actions, does not mean that Darwin should be vilified for it. Descent was not a social commentary, but a scientific treatise, and should be treated as such.