The third of Darwin's three great books on evolution,
illustrated.
In the
Descent of Man Darwin took the logic of common descent and applied it to human beings. Something he had only hinted at in the
Origin:
"Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history"
The second, and much longer, section of the book deals with Darwin's concept of
Sexual Selection, in which certain, otherwise disadvantageous, traits are favoured because they confer an advantage in the competition for mates. The peacock's tail is perhaps the most famous of these.
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