The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals Hardcover – January 1, 2008 by Charles Darwin (Author), Stephen Pinker (Introduction).

For THE EXPRESSION OF EMOTIONS IN MAN AND ANIMALS, Darwin compliled hundreds of detailed observations of men, women, children, and animals "to show that all the chief expressions exhibited by man are found the same throughout the world." Weeping, blushing, raging are all recorded. We learn the attributes of the sneer, the pout, the frown. Darwin took his examples from peoples across the globe as well as from his own famiy (especially his dog). He sent surveys to missionaries, travellers, archaeologists, and naturalists inquiring: "Is contempt expressed by a slight protrusion of the lips?", "Is extreme fear expressed in the same general manner as with Europeans?" Their replies convinced Darwin beyond doubt that "the several races are descended from a single parent-stock." This assertion made in 1872, during an era dominated by faux scientific racism, was bold beyond precedent. . . . The book was remarkable for another reason. It was the first to use photography to illustrate scientific arguments and the images included are extraordinary: babies crying, ladies grimacing, actors feigning emotions, and (most chilling of all) an asylum patient "galvanized" into an expression of horror, electrodes still hanging from his face. Also included in this 2008 Folio Society edition is Darwin's autobiography, written as a private document at the height of his fame.

The book is Charles Darwin’s third major work of evolutionary theory, following On the Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871). Initially intended as a chapter in The Descent of Man, The Expression grew in length and was published separately in 1872. This book concerns the biological aspects of emotional life, and Darwin explores the animal origins of such human characteristics as the lifting of the eyebrows in moments of surprise and the mental confusion which typically accompanies blushing

Features:

• Folio Society First Impression
• Publisher Folio Society, London; 2008
• Grey Cloth Hardback, 372 pp
• With frontispiece and colour and black & white plates
• Size 250 x 170mm, 1.5kg