From man to ape : Darwinism in Argentina, 1870-1920 / Adriana Novoa and Alex Levine.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Novoa, Adriana, 1963-

Contributor:

Levine, Alex, 1966-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882--Influence.

Darwin, Charles.

Evolution (Biology)--Argentina--History.

Evolution (Biology).

Science--Argentina--History.

Science.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (294 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Upon its publication, The Origin of Species was critically embraced in Europe and North America. But how did Darwin's theories fare in other regions of the world? Adriana Novoa and Alex Levine offer here a history and interpretation of the reception of Darwinism in Argentina, illuminating the ways culture shapes scientific enterprise. In order to explore how Argentina's particular interests, ambitions, political anxieties, and prejudices shaped scientific research, From Man to Ape focuses on Darwin's use of analogies. Both analogy and metaphor are culturally situated, and by studying scientific activity at Europe's geographical and cultural periphery, Novoa and Levine show that familiar analogies assume unfamiliar and sometimes startling guises in Argentina. The transformation of these analogies in the Argentine context led science-as well as the interaction between science, popular culture, and public policy-in surprising directions. In diverging from European models, Argentine Darwinism reveals a great deal about both Darwinism and science in general. Novel in its approach and its subject, From Man to Ape reveals a new way of understanding Latin American science and its impact on the scientific communities of Europe and North America.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Roots of Evolutionary Thought in Argentina

Chapter 2. The Reception of Darwinism in Argentina

Chapter 3. The Triumph of Darwinism in Argentina

Chapter 4. The Culture of Extinction

Chapter 5. Sexual Selection and the Politics of Mating

Chapter 6. Evolutionary Psychology and Its Analogies

Conclusion

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613058461

9781283058469

1283058464

9780226596181

0226596184

OCLC:

695995021