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Review
‘This is Darwin’s most readable and human book, full of enchanting observations, provocative theories and remarkable photographs. This splendid new edition of Expression will introduce a new generation of readers to Darwin’s masterpiece, undiminished and intensely relevant even 125 years after publication.’
Oliver Sacks, author of The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat
‘The Expression of the Emotions predates Freud, and it will still be illuminating human psychology long after Freud’s discrediting is complete.’
Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion
‘The appearance of this new edition of Darwin’s extraordinary book is a major event in the human sciences. Here Darwin reminds us of his astonishing gifts of observation and explanation, offering insights that are delightful and fresh over a century later. Paul Ekman’s reconstruction of this edition is an act of great scholarship. Everyone interested in emotion – and who isn’t? – should be grateful to Ekman for this book.’
Steven Pinker, author of The Language Instinct
‘The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals… is Darwin's most extraordinary and approachable book, rich in observed detail and brilliant speculation, beautifully illustrated. This third edition, prepared and annotated by the great American psychologist of the emotions, Paul Ekman… is a major publishing event.'
– Ian McEwan
Product Description
The definitive edition of Darwin’s classic – a brilliantly entertaining and accessible exploration of human and animal behaviour, reissued to mark the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth.
Why do we bite people we feel affection towards? Why do dogs wag their tails? Or cats purr? Why do we get embarrassed, and why does embarrassment make us blush? These and many other questions about the emotional life of man and animals are answered in this remarkable book.
Expression is the only book in which Darwin sketches out his revolutionary ideas about human behaviour in detail: he discusses childhood learning, insanity, painting and sculpture, animal behaviour and the differences in facial expression of the world’s peoples.
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Customer Reviews
However, you must be careful to buy the right edition. In particular, Amazon is rather cavalier about sharing reviews and "search inside" images between different editions that just happen to have the same title. Don't let this mislead you.
Paul Ekman's definitive third edition published by Fontana [ISBN 0006387349] starts with the text and illustrations (including photographs) from the 1889 second edition, and includes further changes that Charles Darwin had indicated but which his son Francis did not include. Ekman adds further photographs and his own comments, which put the work fully into a modern context. It's a fine piece of scholarship.
On the other hand, the Filiquarian edition [ISBN 1599869152] is complete rubbish. It just reprints the freely available text of the second edition with no illustrations and no copy editing. Avoid it.
The Ekman edition fully deserves a 5* review, but I am only giving four because Amazon will attach this review to all the editions, and I want you to read it and realise the difference!
As always, Darwin takes great care as he works his way through the origins and recognition of emotions in both man and animals. He tries to explain how they might have evolved. Darwin uses a wealth of references to back his ideas. Modern readers can find Victorian writers a bit heavy in the way they write but this is an enjoyable book if you read it in stages (as I am still doing!)
Perhaps one of the most interesting facts was Darwin's belief in the "inheritance of acquired characteristics", as proposed by Lamarck. Darwin could see nothing wrong with the idea that expressions in frequent use become acquired. It made me, as a biologist, aware that Darwin was a man of his time. We must not forget that there was no physical explanation at the time about how natural selection works on genes that are transferred to offspring. Darwin was unaware of Mendel's work, for example.
Darwin's work on the expression of emotions fell into disfavour in the 20th Century. The balance of scientific opinion swung towards a belief that cultural factors were more important. Now the pendulum is swinging the other way. It is therefore a pleasure to find that many of Darwin's findings are being rediscovered and confirmed in new research.
The book includes comments by Paul Ekman. Paul is a modern expert, researcher and teacher in facial expression. This is great for the reader, who can then see how Darwin's work fits in with modern opinion. I should add that science is still actively debating the expression of emotions to this day!
An thoughtful book which is a great addition to your bookshelf.
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