Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man: The Darwinian Pivot - Softcover

Campbell, Bernard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0202308456 ISBN 13: 9780202308456

Publisher: Routledge, 2006

Synopsis

Just over one hundred and thirty years ago Charles Darwin, in The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871), developed remarkably accurate conclusions about man's ancestry, based on a review of general comparative anatomy and psychology in which he regarded sexual selection as a necessary part of the evolutionary process. But the attention of biologists turned to the more general concept of natural selection, in which sexual selection plays a complex role that has been little understood. This volume significantly broadens the scope of modern evolutionary biology by looking at this important and long neglected concept of great importance.

In this book, which is the first full discussion of sexual selection since 1871, leading biologists bring modern genetic theory and behavior observation to bear on the subject. The distinguished authors consider many aspects of sexual selection in many species, including man, within the context of contemporary evolutionary theory and research. The result is a remarkably original and well-rounded view of the whole concept that will be invaluable especially to students of evolution and human sexual behavior. The lucid authority of the contributors and the importance of the topic will interest all who share in man's perennial fascination with his own history.

The book will be of central importance to a wide variety of professionals, including biologists, anthropologists, and geneticists. It will be an invaluable supplementary text for courses in vertebrate biology, theory of evolution, genetics, and physical anthropology. It is especially important with the emergence of alternative explanations of human development, under the rubric of creationism and doctrines of intelligent design.

About this title

About the Author:

Bernard G. Campbell was professor of anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Born in Weybridge, England, he received his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1957, and has been a lecturer in anthropology at Cambridge and Harvard universities. Among his many contributions to the field of anthropology are Human Evolution: An Introduction to Man’s Adaptations andSexual Selection and the Descent of Man.

Review:

“A book must be judged not only on its content, but also for the perspectives it contains. Such a premises is indispensable to evaluate the present book. The content is outstanding.... The book will be... of central importance to a wide range of professionals, including biologists, geneticists and any sort of anthropologists. Reading it will moreover be an invaluable supplement for students of theory of evolution and anthropology in the broadest sense.”

—A. B. Chiarelli, Man

“As a centennial volume commemorating Darwin’s Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, Campbell assembled eleven essays on issues of sexual selection and human evolution which Darwin’s work proposed.... [T]he book is... a valuable collection which expands our understanding of sexual selection.”

—Adrienne Zihlman, American Anthropologist

“[H]ighly exciting book on modern evolutionary theory which began as a tribute to Charles Darwin. If every scientific centennial were to evoke a book half as stimulating, science might move forward much faster even than it is now doing, for this volume opens up and strengthens a borderland between disciplines that have had far too little to say to each other in the past.”

—Bentley Glass, The Quarterly Review of Biology

“In 1871 under the title The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex Darwin published a book that dealt with human evolution and with sexual selection, or two books bound together, one on each of these topics, or perhaps just part of a book, the rest appearing a year later as The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. The event is commemorated here by 11 essays on the subjects considered in Darwin’s classic.”

—George C. Williams, Science

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0202308456
• ISBN 13: 9780202308456
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 390