Evolution of Beauty: How Darwin's Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Ani

Description: Evolution of Beauty by Richard O. Prum "Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York, in 2017"--Title page verso. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description A major reimagining of how evolutionary forces work, revealing how mating preferences--what Darwin termed "the taste for the beautiful"--create the extraordinary range of ornament in the animal world.A major reimagining of how evolutionary forces work, revealing how mating preferences-what Darwin termed "the taste for the beautiful"-create the extraordinary range of ornament in the animal world."A delicious read, both seductive and mutinous.... Minutely detailed, exquisitely observant, deeply informed, and often tenderly sensual."-New York Times Book ReviewIn the great halls of science, dogma holds that Darwins theory of natural selection explains every branch on the tree of life- which species thrive, which wither away to extinction, and what features each evolves. But can adaptation by natural selection really account for everything we see in nature?Yale University ornithologist Richard Prum-reviving Darwins own views-thinks not. Deep in tropical jungles around the world are birds with a dizzying array of appearances and mating displays- Club-winged Manakins who sing with their wings, Great Argus Pheasants who dazzle prospective mates with a four-foot-wide cone of feathers covered in golden 3D spheres, Red-capped Manakins who moonwalk. In thirty years of fieldwork, Prum has seen numerous display traits that seem disconnected from, if not outright contrary to, selection for individual survival. To explain this, he dusts off Darwins long-neglected theory of sexual selection in which the act of choosing a mate for purely aesthetic reasons-for the mere pleasure of it-is an independent engine of evolutionary change.Mate choice can drive ornamental traits from the constraints of adaptive evolution, allowing them to grow ever more elaborate. It also sets the stakes for sexual conflict, in which the sexual autonomy of the female evolves in response to male sexual control. Most crucially, this framework provides important insights into the evolution of human sexuality, particularly the ways in which female preferences have changed male bodies, and even maleness itself, through evolutionary time.The Evolution of Beauty presents a unique scientific vision for how natures splendor contributes to a more complete understanding of evolution and of ourselves. Author Biography RICHARD O. PRUM is William Robertson Coe Professor of Ornithology at Yale University, and Head Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. He has conducted field work throughout the world, and has studied fossil theropod dinosaurs in China. He received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2010. Review NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, SMITHSONIAN, AND WALL STREET JOURNAL"Prums argument is exhilarating . . . The Evolution of Beauty should be widely read, as it will provoke readers, shaking them (as reading Hume did to Kant) from their dogmatic slumbers . . . I dont see how any biologist could read this book and not walk away at least questioning the idea that adaptation must explain every last trait. Survival of the fittest might not be enough to explain nature. We might need survival of the prettiest, too."—Sam Kean, Wall Street Journal"Prum draws on decades of study, hundreds of papers, and a lively, literate, and mischievous mind . . . a delicious read, both seductive and mutinous . . . Prums attention never strays far from nature, and his writing [about birds] is minutely detailed, exquisitely observant, deeply informed, and often tenderly sensual."—David Dobbs, New York Times Book Review"The single most provocative book I read this year, one of those books that changes the way you look at everything . . . Everything about this book is unexpected, including the prose–fine and often funny."—Michael Pollan"The Evolution of Beauty is at once fascinating, provocative, and totally compelling. Anyone interested in science or art or sex—which is to say everyone—will want to read it." —Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction "A fascinating account of beauty and mate choice in birds and other animals. Youll be amazed by the weird things that birds do to win mates. Youll also discover why both men and women have armpit hair, why men lack the penis bone widespread in other mammals, and what really happened in the Garden of Eden." —Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel "A major intellectual achievement that should hasten the adoption of a more expansive style of evolutionary explanation that Darwin himself would have appreciated."—Nick Romeo, Washington Post "A smorgasbord of evolutionary biology, philosophy, and sociology, filtered through Prums experiences as a birdwatcher and his diverse research on everything from dinosaur colors to duck sex. Through compelling arguments and colorful examples, Prum launches a counterstrike against the adaptationist regime, in an attempt to put the subjective experience of animals back in the center of biology and to bring beauty back to the sciences." —Ed Yong, The Atlantic "Prums career has been diverse and full, so that reading this fascinating book, we learn about the patterning of dinosaur feathers, consider the evolutionary basis of the human female orgasm, the tyranny of academic patriarchy, and the corkscrewed enormity of a ducks penis. Combining this with in-depth study of how science selects the ideas it approves of and fine writing about fieldwork results in a rich, absorbing text . . . The dance Prum performs to convince you to take him on as an intellectual partner is beautiful and deserves to be appreciated on its own terms." —Adrian Barnett, New Scientist"Reads like a memoir, argues like a manifesto, and shines with Prums passion for all things ornithological."—Erika Lorraine Milam, Science"Life isnt just a dreary slog of survival. It brims with exuberance—from extravagant plumage to strange courtship rituals. In The Evolution of Beauty, Richard Prum takes us into this universe of delights to discover a fascinating idea: that beauty is central to the history of life."—Carl Zimmer, author of Parasite Rex and Evolution: Making Sense of Life Promotional A major reimagining of how evolutionary forces work, revealing how mating preferences-what Darwin termed "the taste for the beautiful"-create the extraordinary range of ornament in the animal world. Review Quote "Prums argument is exhilarating . . . The Evolution of Beauty should be widely read, as it will provoke readers, shaking them (as reading Hume did to Kant) from their dogmatic slumbers . . . I dont see how any biologist could read this book and not walk away at least questioning the idea that adaptation must explain every last trait. Survival of the fittest might not be enough to explain nature. We might need survival of the prettiest, too." --Sam Kean, Wall Street Journal " The Evolution of Beauty is at once fascinating, provocative, and totally compelling. Anyone interested in science or art or sex--which is to say everyone--will want to read it." --Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction "A fascinating account of beauty and mate choice in birds and other animals. Youll be amazed by the weird things that birds do to win mates--such as male manakins, which bounce up and down in coordinated displays but only one gets to mate. Youll also discover why both men and women have armpit hair, why men lack the penis bone widespread in other mammals, and what really happened in the Garden of Eden." --Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel "A smorgasbord of evolutionary biology, philosophy, and sociology, filtered through Prums experiences as a birdwatcher and his diverse research on everything from dinosaur colors to duck sex. Through compelling arguments and colorful examples, Prum launches a counterstrike against the adaptationist regime, in an attempt to put the subjective experience of animals back in the center of biology and to bring beauty back to the sciences." --Ed Yong, The Atlantic "Prums career has been diverse and full, so that reading this fascinating book, we learn about the patterning of dinosaur feathers, consider the evolutionary basis of the human female orgasm, the tyranny of academic patriarchy, and the corkscrewed enormity of a ducks penis. Combining this with in-depth study of how science selects the ideas it approves of and fine writing about fieldwork results in a rich, absorbing text . . . The dance Prum performs to convince you to take him on as an intellectual partner is beautiful and deserves to be appreciated on its own terms." --Adrian Barnett, New Scientist "Reads like a memoir, argues like a manifesto, and shines with Prums passion for all things ornithological." --Erika Lorraine Milam, Science "A provocative redress of a powerful idea: beauty for the sake of beauty. Like all the best science, Prums exploration builds on the past with an eye toward the future, creating something bold, challenging, and deeply insightful. Anyone with even a passing interest in evolution should read this book." --Thor Hanson, author of Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle "Splendid colors and lovely songs did not arise in birds because of their usefulness, Richard Prum argues, but because they pleased potential mates. Prum offers an exciting new take on evolution and a whirlwind tour of beauty in the animal kingdom, full of wonders and intellectual stimulation." --Frans de Waal, author of Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? "Life isnt just a dreary slog of survival. It brims with exuberance--from extravagant plumage to strange courtship rituals. In The Evolution of Beauty, Richard Prum takes us into this universe of delights to discover a fascinating idea: that beauty is central to the history of life." --Carl Zimmer, author of Parasite Rex and Evolution: Making Sense of Life "I thought I knew a fair bit about sexual selection, but as I read The Evolution of Beauty I was excited by the many stimulating comparative examples Prum cites. From fantastic manakin displays captured by the authors own field work to bowerbird constructions, duck genitalia, and monkey sex (what little of it there is), Prums important insights illuminate beauty, human sexuality, mate choice, and human society. A refreshing new look at compelling age-old topics." --Bernd Heinrich, author of Mind of the Raven "This highly original, must-read book is a fast-paced, passionate and witty wake-up call for us to acknowledge just how powerfully sexual selection has influenced the bodies and behaviors of birds and other beasts, including humans. Prum convincingly builds his case with his unrivaled and sometimes ribald knowledge of birds and then applies these insights courageously and creatively to challenge much of the conventional wisdom about humans. You probably never thought you would learn so much about the human penis from reading about those of ducks!" --Daniel E. Lieberman, author of The Story of the Human Body "Darwin thought evolution was beautiful, but modern biologists have forgotten this. Now Richard Prum, who discovered the real color of dinosaurs, has eloquently reminded us. His book is essential for all who wish to learn how nature works." --David Rothenberg, author of Survival of the Beautiful and Bug Music "Well-documented and wholly accessible, enriched by Prums warm personal touches. Prum writes that his goal was to present the full, distinctive richness, complexity, and diversity of this aesthetic view of life. He absolutely succeeds." -- Kirkus Reviews Promotional "Headline" A major reimagining of how evolutionary forces work, revealing how mating preferences-what Darwin termed "the taste for the beautiful"-create the extraordinary range of ornament in the animal world. Excerpt from Book CHAPTER 3 Manakin Dances How, and why, has beauty changed within and among bird species over the course of millions of years? What determines what any given species finds beautiful? What, in short, is the evolutionary history of avian beauty? These questions might seem impossible to answer, but we actually have many of the scientific tools we need to address them productively. One of the challenges to understanding the evolution of beauty is the complexity of animal displays and mating preferences. Fortunately, we do not need to invent a trendy new brand of "systems science" in order to investigate these complex aesthetic repertoires, because the science of natural history--the observation and description of the lives of organisms in their natural environments--provides us with exactly the tools we need. Natural history was a critical component of Darwins scientific method and remains a bedrock foundation of much of evolutionary biology today. Once we have gathered information about individual species, we need other scientific methods to compare and analyze them and to uncover their complicated, often hierarchical evolutionary histories. The scientific discipline that enables us to do that is called phylogenetics. Phylogeny is the history of evolutionary relationships among organisms--what Darwin called the "great Tree of Life." Darwin proposed that discovery of the Tree of Life should become a major branch of evolutionary biology. Unfortunately, research interest in phylogeny was largely abandoned by evolutionary biology during most of the twentieth century. However, powerful new methods for reconstructing and analyzing phylogenies have been developed in recent decades, which has led to a revival of interest. So, now that the two critical intellectual tools necessary to study the evolution of beauty--natural history and phylogenetics--are available, there has never been a better time to be asking questions about how beauty, and the taste for it, evolve. Doing so will help us to understand the process of evolutionary radiation--diversification among species--in a new way. In evolutionary biology, adaptive radiation is the process by which a single common ancestor evolves through natural selection into a diversity of species that have a great variety of ecologies or anatomical structures. The amazing diversity of Darwins Finches (Geospizinae) on the Gal Details ISBN0345804570 Author Richard O. Prum Pages 448 Year 2018 ISBN-10 0345804570 ISBN-13 9780345804570 Format Paperback Media Book Imprint Random House Inc Subtitle How Darwins Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World - and Us Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States DEWEY 591.562 Short Title The Evolution of Beauty Language English Publication Date 2018-04-03 UK Release Date 2018-04-03 AU Release Date 2018-04-03 NZ Release Date 2018-04-03 US Release Date 2018-04-03 Illustrations 16 page 4-Colour; 44 Illustrations in text Publisher Random House USA Inc Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. 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