Darwin The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex

With a New introduction by J. T. Bonner and R. M. May
ISBN: 978-1-4008-2006-1
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 960 Seiten

Reihe: Princeton Science Library

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Darwin, Charles

Weitere Mitwirkende

Bonner, John Tyler

May, Robert M

Fachgebiete

• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Evolutionsbiologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter, pg. i
Contents VOL I, pg. v
Introduction, pg. vii
Notes and References, pg. xxxvi
Contents, pg. xlv
Introduction, pg. 1
Chapter I. The Evidence of the Descent of Man From Some Lower Form, pg. 9
Chapter II. Comparison of the Mental Powers of Man and the Lower Animals, pg. 34
Chapter III. Comparison of the Mental Powers of Man and the Lower Animals—Continued, pg. 70
Chapter IV. On the Manner of Development of Man From Some Lower Form, pg. 107
Chapter V. On the Development of the Intellectual and Moral Faculties During Primeval and Civilised Times, pg. 158
Chapter VI. On the Affinities and Genealogy of Man, pg. 185
Chapter VII. On the Races of Man, pg. 214
Chapter VIII. Principles of Sexual Selection, pg. 253
Chapter IX. Secondary Sexual Characters in the Lower Classes of the Animal Kingdom., pg. 321
Chapter X. Secondary Sexual Characters of Insects, pg. 341
Chapter XI. Insects, Continued.—Order Lepidoptera, pg. 386
Front Matter 2, pg. I
Errata, pg. II
Contents VOL. II., pg. III
Postscript, pg. VII
Chapter XII. Secondary Sexual Characters of Fishes, Amphibians, and Reptiles, pg. 1
Chapter XIII. Secondary Sexual Characters of Birds, pg. 38
Chapter XIV. Birds—Continued, pg. 99
Chapter XV. Birds—Continued, pg. 154
Chapter XVI. Birds—Concluded, pg. 183
Chapter XVII. Secondary Sexual Characters Of Mammals, pg. 239
Chapter XVIII. Secondary. Sexual Characters of Mammals— Continued, pg. 274
Chapter XIX. Secondary Sexual Characters of Man, pg. 316
Chapter XX. Secondary Sexual Characters of Man—Continued, pg. 355
Chapter XXI. General Summary and Conclusion, pg. 385
Index, pg. 406
Table of the Principal Additions and Corrections to the Editions of 1874, pg. 477

Über Autor(innen)

John Tyler Bonner and Robert M. May are Professors of Biology at Princeton University.