Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science, and Evolution
Language: English
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2011
- Hardcover
- Used

Seller: ThriftBooks-Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, U.S.A.ThriftBooks-Phoenix
AbeBooks seller since May 14, 2010
Condition: Used - Very good
US$ 6.90
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.
Seller Inventory # G1608192164I4N00
- Title
- Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science, and Evolution
- Author
- Rothenberg, David
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Publication year
- 2011
- Condition
- Very Good
- Dust jacket
- No Jacket
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 1608192164
- ISBN 13
- 9781608192168
- Item weight
- 1.55 pounds
"The peacock's tail," said Charles Darwin, "makes me sick." That's because the theory of evolution as adaptation can't explain why nature is so beautiful. It took the concept of sexual selection for Darwin to explain that, a process that has more to do with aesthetics than the practical. Survival of the Beautiful is a revolutionary new examination of the interplay of beauty, art, and culture in evolution. Taking inspiration from Darwin's observation that animals have a natural aesthetic sense, philosopher and musician David Rothenberg probes why animals, humans included, have innate appreciation for beauty-and why nature is, indeed, beautiful.
Sexual selection may explain why animals desire, but it says very little about what they desire. Why will a bowerbird literally murder another bird to decorate its bower with the victim's blue feathers? Why do butterfly wings boast such brilliantly varied patterns? The beauty of nature is not arbitrary, even if random mutation has played a role in evolution. What can we learn from the amazing range of animal aesthetic behavior-about animals, and about ourselves?
Readers who enjoyed the bestsellers The Art Instinct and The Mind's Eye will find Survival of the Beautiful an equally stimulating and profound exploration of art, science, and the creative impulse.
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About the Author
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ThriftBooks-Phoenix
Phoenix, AZ, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since May 14, 2010
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