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The Descent of Man Paperback - 2007

Name: The Descent of Man: The Concise Edition
Price: 8.16 USD
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Author: Darwin, Charles
ISBN: 9780452288881

by Charles Darwin; Carl Zimmer (Editor); Commentaries by Carl Zimmer

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In this accessible edition of Darwins incendiary classic, renowned evolutionary science writer Zimmer edits this special abridged edition--made up of nine excerpts--and brilliantly places Darwins basic ideas in the context of the current understanding of human nature and 21st-century DNA research.

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Summary

The most accessible edition ever published of Darwin?s incendiary classic, edited by ?as fine a science essayist as we have? (New York Times)

The Descent of Man, Darwin?s second landmark work on evolutionary theory (following The Origin of the Species), marked a turning point in the history of science with its modern vision of human nature as the product of evolution. Darwin argued that the noblest features of humans, such as language and morality, were the result of the same natural processes that produced iris petals and scorpion tails.

To convey the revolutionary importance of this groundbreaking book, renowned evolutionary science writer Carl Zimmer edited this special abridged edition?made up of nine excerpts, each one representing one of Darwin?s major themes?and wrote illuminating introductions to each section, as well as an overall introduction. Zimmer brilliantly places Darwin?s basic ideas in the context of the current understanding of human nature and twenty-first-century DNA research. By accessibly presenting Darwin?s thinking to a modern readership, Zimmer eloquently demonstrates Darwin?s ever-increasing relevance and amazing scientific insight.

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From the publisher

The most accessible edition ever published of Darwin's incendiary classic, edited by "as fine a science essayist as we have" (New York Times)

The Descent of Man, Darwin's second landmark work on evolutionary theory (following The Origin of the Species), marked a turning point in the history of science with its modern vision of human nature as the product of evolution. Darwin argued that the noblest features of humans, such as language and morality, were the result of the same natural processes that produced iris petals and scorpion tails.

To convey the revolutionary importance of this groundbreaking book, renowned evolutionary science writer Carl Zimmer edited this special abridged edition--made up of nine excerpts, each one representing one of Darwin's major themes--and wrote illuminating introductions to each section, as well as an overall introduction. Zimmer brilliantly places Darwin's basic ideas in the context of the current understanding of human nature and twenty-first-century DNA research. By accessibly presenting Darwin's thinking to a modern readership, Zimmer eloquently demonstrates Darwin's ever-increasing relevance and amazing scientific insight.

Details

Title The Descent of Man
Author Charles Darwin; Carl Zimmer (Editor); Commentaries by Carl Zimmer
Binding Paperback
Edition Reprint
Pages 448
Volumes 1
Language ENG
Publisher Plume Books
Publication date 2007-12-01
Abridged Yes
Features Abridged, Bibliography, Index
ISBN 9780452288881 / 0452288886
Weight 0.81 lbs (0.37 kg)
Dimensions 7.86 x 5.96 x 0.93 in (19.96 x 15.14 x 2.36 cm)
Category Science
Library of Congress subjects Evolution (Biology), Human beings - Origin
Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2007022908
Dewey Decimal Code 576.82

About the author

Charles Darwin, a Victorian scientist and naturalist, has become one of the most famous figures of science to date. Born in 1809 to an upper-middle-class medical family, he was destined for a career in either medicine or the Anglican Church. However, he never completed his medical education and his future changed entirely in 1831 when he joined HMS Beagle as a self-financing, independent naturalist. On returning to England in 1836 he began to write up his theories and observations which culminated in a series of books, most famously On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859, where he challenged and contradicted contemporary biological and religious beliefs with two decades worth of scientific investigation and theory. Darwin's theory of natural selection is now the most widely accepted scientific model of how species evolve. He died in 1882 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Damien Hirst is an internationally renowned English artist, who has dominated the art scene in England since the 1990s. Known in particular for his series of works on death, Hirst here provides a contemporary, visual take on Darwin's theory of evolution - the struggle between life and death in nature.

William Bynum is Professor Emeritus of the History of Medicine at University College, London, and was for many years Head of the Academic Unit of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine. He edited the scholarly journal Medical History from 1980 to 2001, and his previous publications include Science and the Practice of Medicine in the Nineteenth Century; The Companion Encyclopedia of the History of Medicine (co-edited with Roy Porter); The Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations (with Roy Porter), The Dictionary of Medical Biography (with Helen Bynum), and History of Medicine: A Very Short Introduction. He lives in Suffolk.

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The Descent of Man: The Concise Edition

by Darwin, Charles

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Plume, 2007-11-27. Reprint. paperback. Used: Good. 5.31x1.01x8.00. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.

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The Descent of Man : The Concise Edition

by Charles Darwin

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Binding: Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13: 9780452288881 / 0452288886
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Penguin Publishing Group, 2007. Paperback. Acceptable. Disclaimer:A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact. Pages can include considerable notes-in pen or highlighter-but the notes cannot obscure the text. At ThriftBooks, our motto is: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.

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