Man's Place in Nature (Dover Books on Biology) - Softcover

Thomas H. Huxley

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486432734 ISBN 13: 9780486432731

Publisher: Dover Publications, 2003

Synopsis

Known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his impassioned defense of evolutionary theory, Thomas Huxley published this, his most famous book, just a few years after Darwin's The Origin of the Species. Unlike Origin, this book focuses on human ancestry and offers a concise, nontechnical survey of the state of mid-nineteenth-century knowledge about primate and human paleontology and ethology.

Man's Place in Nature concurs with Darwin's assertion of the absence of a physiologic and psychic structural line of demarcation between humans and apes. Huxley ventures further than Darwin, however, by making the first attempt to apply the principles of evolution directly to the human race (an issue that Darwin skirted). Despite Huxley's acknowledgements of the wide gulf represented by the human capacity for rational speech and language, some Victorian readers were scandalized by the application of Darwinian theory to humans and by Huxley's evidence of the fundamental similarities between the human brain and the ape brain.

A landmark of scientific progress, this immensely readable book reflects the stylistic gifts that made its author a popular public speaker.

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Review

Darwin said it first, but Huxley said it best. Known as "Darwin's bulldog" for his tenacious and successful defense of evolution by natural selection, biologist T.H. Huxley wrote Man's Place in Nature to bolster his case with hard facts. This new edition, edited and introduced by eminent paleontologist and evolutionary theorist Stephen Jay Gould, reminds the readers of the power of good writing to influence opinion. Huxley's style is charmingly persuasive, even when he's describing the intimate details of the lemur's skull. The illustrations range from crude to beautifully detailed and generally take a back seat to the prose. Those involved in debates with creationists--150 years after Darwin--will be discouraged to learn that Huxley faced many of the same arguments in his day. Still, armed with Man's Place in Nature, another generation can fight and win. --Rob Lightner

From the Inside Flap

Thomas H. Huxley was one of the first supporters of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, and he did more than any other writer to advance its acceptance among scientists and nonscientists alike. His most famous book, Man's Place in Nature, published only five years after Darwin's The Origin of Species, offers a compelling review of primate and human paleontology, and is the first attempt to apply Darwin's theory to human beings. As compelling a piece of analysis now as it was 140 years ago, Man's Place in Nature is a must for every science lover's library.

Edition details

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0486432734
• ISBN 13: 9780486432731
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192