Cambridge University Press eBooks· 2013
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals
- 1,354citations
- 2013year
Short summary
Charles Darwin's 1872 monograph systematically studied human and animal facial expressions, challenging prior assumptions that these muscles were unique to humans for expression.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Systematic study of human and animal emotional expression.
- Challenged the notion of human-specific facial muscles for expression.
- Utilized diverse research methods including global correspondence and clinical observation.
- Illustrated with drawings, photographs, and engravings.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
When this monograph was first published in 1872, there already existed a good deal of thought on facial expression via the study of physiognomy; this work, notes Charles Darwin (1809–82), was full of 'surprising nonsense'. Setting aside the assumption of previous studies that human facial muscles were created specifically for a range of expressions unique to the species, Darwin sets out here to make a systematic study of both human and animal expression. The range of his research is extraordinarily wide: he not only experimented on himself, but observed infants, consulted doctors in psychiatric hospitals and sent out requests to missionaries and travellers for first-hand notes on the expressions of aboriginal peoples. Learned, meticulous and illustrated with an impressive array of drawings, photographs and engravings, Darwin's work stands as an important contribution to the study of human behaviour and its origins.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Cambridge University Press eBooks, 2013 · DOI ↗
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Field: History and Philosophy of Science
History and Philosophy of ScienceArts and Humanities