Charles Darwin on man in the first edition of theOrigin of Species

✍ Scribed by Carl J. Bajema

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 476 KB
• Volume: 21
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-5010
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00144088

✦ Synopsis

The myth that Charles Darwin dared to make only one statement concerning human evolution in the first edition of the Origin of Species -"Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history' -has been perpetuated by the authors of several recent books.2 Darwin contributed to the creation of this myth when he stated, in The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex: During many years I collected notes on the origin or descent of man, without any intentions of publishing on the subject, but rather with the determination not to publish as I thought that I should thus only add to the prejudices against my views. It seemed to me sufficient to indicate, in the first edition of my "Origin of Species," that by this work "light would be thrown on the origin of man and his history"; and this implies that man must be included with other organic beings in any general conclusion respecting his manner of appearance on this earth. 3