Origin of Man (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: Darwin Pan Guangdan Hu Shuwen
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: This book was first published in 1871, and during subsequent revisions, I have had the opportunity to propose several important corrections. More time has passed since then, during which this book has undergone severe tests; I have also strived to learn from these lessons and utilized all the criticisms I deemed reasonable. I am greatly grateful to the large group of individuals who corresponded with me, sharing with me an overwhelming number of new facts and insights. These facts and insights are simply too numerous for me to have utilized more than a portion of the more important ones. Regarding these new additions and the previously mentioned significant corrections, I have prepared a list to be appended to this edition, explaining the differences between the two versions. In this second edition, several illustrations have been added, and four others have been replaced with newer and better ones, all drawn by Mr. Ward (facing p. 716) from live specimens. I must particularly draw the reader's attention to the new observations on the nature of the differences between the human brain and the brains of higher apes, which were kindly provided to me by Professor Huxley (facing p. 344) and are now included as an "appendix" at the end of this chapter. I wish to express my gratitude to him here. I am particularly pleased to present these observations, as in recent years, several specialized works on this topic have appeared on the European continent, and their importance has been excessively exaggerated by some popular writers, necessitating a correction. I may take this opportunity to clarify that the criticisms often directed at me assume that I attribute all changes in physical and psychological abilities to natural selection acting on what is often referred to as "spontaneous variation." This is incorrect. As early as the first edition of On the Origin of Species, I clearly stated that both physical and psychological changes must be largely attributed to the inheritance of the effects of use and disuse. I have also attributed a portion of the variations to the direct and long-lasting effects of changes in living conditions. I have also mentioned that we must leave room for occasional atavistic inheritance in structure. We must also not forget the phenomenon I call "correlated growth," which means that due to some unknown mode of connection in the organization of the parts of a biological organism, if one part varies, certain other parts are also affected; and if a variation in one part is accumulated through selection, the other parts will also undergo changes. Furthermore, some critics of my views argue that when I found many details of human anatomy difficult to explain through natural selection, I invented "sexual selection." However, I believe that in the first edition of On the Origin of Species, I provided a fairly clear outline of the principles of sexual selection and also mentioned that this principle could apply to humans as well. The reason why the topic of sexual selection is given full treatment and sufficient space in the second edition of this book is simply that I have had the opportunity to do so by this point. Many criticisms of sexual selection express a considerable degree of agreement or sympathy, and they are quite similar to the early criticisms faced by natural selection. This similarity has drawn my attention. For example, some say that this principle can adequately explain a few minor facts, but it cannot be applied as broadly as I have done. Nevertheless, my belief in the power of sexual selection has never wavered. However, I also acknowledge that many of my conclusions will likely be, and almost certainly will be, proven wrong in the future. It is inevitable that a topic taken up by someone for the first time will face such prospects. I believe that when naturalists become more familiar with the concept of sexual selection, they will certainly accept it to a much greater extent than they do now. Even today, several capable and discerning scholars have fully agreed to accept it. Kent, Berkeley,, September 1874.
This book is one of Darwin's major works, systematically describing artificial selection and proposing theories of sexual selection and human origins. It is divided into three parts and twenty-one chapters. The first part of the original book discusses the origin of humans or their origins, explaining whether humans are like any other species in that they descended from some preceding biological type. The second and third parts discuss sexual selection and its relationship to humans.