When Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man was published in 1871, the book was an immediate sensation. It presents Darwin’s account of how we evolved from primates and expounds his theory of sexual selection, which he believed accounted for human origins and diversity. James Costa and Elizabeth Yale bring Darwin’s Descent to new life in this authoritative annotated edition, shedding light on the cultural context in which the legendary naturalist developed his ideas and exploring how subsequent generations of scientists, scholars, and social reformers adapted them.
Informative and in-depth commentaries accompany the text of The Descent of Man, enabling readers to engage with Darwin’s ideas and contextualize them in light of our current understanding of human evolution and sexual selection. Costa and Yale show how Darwin’s antislavery commitments and his beliefs in European superiority shaped his account of the evolution of human difference, and examine how Victorian beliefs about gender informed the development of his theory of sexual selection. They explain where Darwin’s arguments about the origins of human differences line up with modern science—and where they don’t.
Spanning the boundaries of history and science, this fully annotated edition illuminates the rich cultural and scientific contexts underpinning Darwin’s ideas and introduces his landmark book to a new generation of readers.
James T. Costa is director of the Highlands Biological Station and professor of biology at Western Carolina University. His books include Darwin's Backyard: How Small Experiments Led to a Big Theory and Wallace, Darwin, and the Origin of Species. Elizabeth E. Yale is a lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Iowa. She is the author of Sociable Knowledge: Natural History and the Nation in Early Modern Britain.
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“Costa and Yale have brought Darwin’s The Descent of Man back to life with thoughtful historical annotations, insightful commentary, and modern scientific references. This newly accessible volume will be indispensable to scholars and students alike and bring new audiences to this ever-relevant text.”—Richard O. Prum, Yale University, author of The Evolution of Beauty: How Darwin’s Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World—and Us
“In The Descent of Man, Darwin directly tackled the hot-button scientific issues of his time—humanity’s bestial origins, the nature of morality, and the role of sex and beauty in shaping animals and humans. Costa and Yale provide a treasure trove of generous annotations, weaving together sharp analysis of biological ideas of Victorian England and today with insightful commentary on the intellectual and cultural world in which Darwin wrote. This beautiful book will serve as an invaluable guide to curious readers.”—Erika Lorraine Milam, author of Creatures of Cain: The Hunt for Human Nature in Cold War America
“At once scholarly and approachable, this invaluable resource operates at the beautiful intersection of the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Costa and Yale make Darwin’s brilliant—and at times problematic—words leap off the page. I learned so much about Darwin the man, his rhetorical strategies, his contemporaries, and what we’ve learned in the century and a half since he wrote Descent. What a gift this book is.”—Jeremy DeSilva, author of First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human
