The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex

Charles Darwin

Published by Princeton University Press 1981

The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex

Charles Darwin
With contributions by: John Tyler Bonner and Robert M May

In the series Princeton Science Library

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400820061

Overview
Contents

About this book

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.

Author / Editor information

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

Reviews

[This work] is second only in importance to the Origin of Species . . . among Darwin's works and the book in which he uses the word evolution for the first time.

Topics

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

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