In observation of the bicentenary of Erasmus Darwin's death, Cambridge is publishing this collection of personal writings by his grandson Charles. This is the first unabridged publication of a book by Charles Darwin, and it contains a series of illuminating insights into his grandfather's life and work. With quotations from letters and candid comments by Charles Darwin about his books; and free of the conventions of scientific writing; this small volume of personal observations illuminates the life of a distinguished scientist as seen by his accomplished successor.

George John Romanes (1848 94), considered by The Times to be 'the biological investigator upon whom in England the mantle of Mr. Darwin has most conspicuously descended', wrote this influential work on the evolution of the mental faculties of animals in 1883. The two scientists were close friends, and Darwin gave Romanes his notes on psychology to use in his studies. Much of the book is devoted to instinct, and contained in the appendix is a posthumous essay by Darwin on the subject, originally intended for a later edition of On the Origin of Species. Romanes' method of using anecdotal...

Charles Darwin (1809 82) was the English naturalist famous for the theory of evolution by natural selection. He began studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh, but developed a fascination for natural history and left Edinburgh to attend Christ's College, Cambridge, where he pursued his new interest while taking a Bachelor of Arts degree. After graduating, he had the opportunity to secure a position as ship's naturalist aboard H.M.S. Beagle for a five-year, round-the-world voyage which would make him famous. Published in 1845, this book is the second edition of Darwin's expedition...

Part of the American Literatures Initiative Series

American Arabesque examines representations of Arabs, Islam and the Near East in nineteenth-century American culture, arguing that these representations play a significant role in the development of American national identity over the century, revealing largely unexplored exchanges between these two cultural traditions that will alter how we understand them today.

Moving from the period of America's engagement in the Barbary Wars through the Holy Land travel mania in the years of Jacksonian expansion and into the writings...

The book that revolutionized the natural sciences and every literary, philosophical and religious thinker who followed. Darwin's theory of evolution and the descent of man remains as controversial and influential today as when it was published over a century ago.

In 1831, naturalist and geologist Charles Darwin joined the Beagle expedition to Tierra del Fuego. What he observed when he got to the new world would eventually lead him to formulate his theory of natural selection. Published in 1859, "On the Origin of the Species" is the controversial classic that revolutionized natural science and altered our understanding of the world.

In seinem 1872 erstmalig veroffentlichten Werk uber die Gemutsbewegungen bei Menschen und Tieren erforscht Darwin die Physiognomie von Gefuhlsregungen und geht der Frage nach, ob die Art und Weise, in der Emotionen zum Ausdruck gebracht werden, angeboren oder kulturell gepragt sei. Anhand minutioser Beobachtungen versucht Darwin die Universalitat und somit genetische Bedingtheit von Gefuhlsausdrucken zu beweisen und seine Theorie einer gemeinsamen Abstammung von Mensch und Tier zu stutzen. Darwins Fragestellungen zeichnen sich auch nach mehr als 130 Jahren noch durch ihre Aktualitat aus und...

Warum l cheln wir, wenn wir gl cklich sind und weinen, wenn es uns nicht gut geht? Warum legen wir bei Zweifeln die Stirn in Falten und weiten die Augen bei Aufregung? Seit vielen Jahrhunderten schon interessieren sich Wissenschaftler f r die Erforschung der Mimik des Menschen und fragen sich, ob es Gesichtsausdr cke gibt, die allen Menschen zu eigen sind oder an den kulturellen Hintergrund gebunden sind, ob sie durch st ndige Wiederholungen erlernt oder angeboren sind. Charles Darwin besch ftigt sich in Hinblick auf seine Vermutung, dass alle Gem tsregungen angeboren sind, und geht dar ber...