Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science, and Evolution

by David Rothenberg

Book Overview

The peacock's tail, said Charles Darwin, makes me sick. That's because the theory of evolution as adaptation can't explain why nature is so beautiful. It took the concept of sexual selection for Darwin to explain that, a process that has more to do with aesthetics than with the practical. Survival of the Beautiful is a revolutionary new examination of the interplay of beauty, art, and culture in evolution. Taking inspiration from Darwin's observation that animals have a natural aesthetic sense, philosopher and musician David Rothenberg probes why animals, humans included, have innate appreciation for beauty-and why nature is, indeed, beautiful.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1608193888
• ISBN13: 9781608193882
• Release Date: April 2013
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.3"