Man's Place in Nature (Modern Library Science)

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.

Thomas H. Huxley was born in Ealing, near London, in 1825. A stint as an assistant surgeon aboard the H.M.S. Rattlesnake, a Royal Navy frigate assigned to the Australian and New Guinea coasts, solidified his interest in naturalism, and his research earned him a place next to leading scientists of his day, such as Charles Lyell, Joseph Hooker, and Charles Darwin. He died in 1895.

Stephen Jay Gould is the Alexander Agassiz professor of zoology and professor of geology at Harvard and the Vincent Astor visiting professor of biology at New York University. Recent books include Full House, Dinosaur in a Haystack, and Questioning the Millennium. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and New York City.