The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals

Rating:
Summary: The digital version is no bargain
Review: Darwin's work is groundbreaking, describing inborn emotional expression, including descriptions of animals as well as man. The book itself gets 4 stars for originality of concept and thoroughness of observation. The editing of the digital version leaves a lot to be desired, and gets 2 stars. No illustrations were included. None--and there is no warning about this anywhere. The pages were longer than the original version, so "footnotes" can be found at the bottom, middle, or top of a page. Some footnotes run into text, so if you're trying to read text and skip footnotes, sometimes it makes no sense whatsoever until you read a footnote, determine where the text actually started, and then re-read it including all the parts. Sometimes parts of sentences are just left out. This approach can work for a work of fiction, but I won't be buying any more "illustrated" or footnoted nonfiction digital books.

Rating:
Summary: A magnificent book, splendid new edition!
Review: Ever since I received Paul EkmanÕs new edition of DarwinÕs classic work, the book has been my constant companion. I carry it with me from room to room, picking it up to read whenever I have a few minutes.

You can open to just about any page and discover yet another gem. Whether you find a bit to read by chance, or whether you like to be guided by the fascinating table of contents and index, or whether you prefer to begin at the beginning, Darwin is always interesting and accessible. In view of our troubled world, I find it helpful to remember that empathy is an essential part of human and animal nature. It seems the study of emotion must lead us toward a deeper understanding of these universal, powerful forces that energize and transform our lives.

ÒExpressionÓ is really an old friend. As a young dance therapist in the 1960s, I was impressed first by DarwinÕs ability to describe the dynamic process of expressive movement. Obviously it is the emotions that motivate and shape the way we move. I learned then that his observations were gathered over a period of 30 years. His subjects included not only all kinds of animals, but also human infants, children and adults from every walk of life and from many different cultures. He approached the study of emotional expression from the perspective of art, literature and inner experience, as well as from muscles and the nervous system. Although it was first published over 125 years ago (1872) DarwinÕs work continues to inspire and inform contemporary research in many fields.

The new edition is simply outstanding. Paul EkmanÕs editing is clearly a Òlabor of love,Ó and at the same time a thorough, original scholarly contribution. I particularly like the way he places DarwinÕs work in a cultural and social/political context. EkmanÕs commentary offers rich resources as he quietly updates, re-frames or differs, yet more than anything, confirms and extends DarwinÕs observations. It is as if Ekman and Darwin were engaged in a kind of dialogue, each learning from the other. Thereader is a privileged witness.

Joan Chodorow

Rating:
Summary: After the BEAGLE, Darwin's "funnest" book!
Review: This is the second book that I throw my serious students after I make them read the Voyage. While the subject is serious, there is more than a hint of play throughout, and one can just imagine Darwin observing his own children for clues to discuss as each chapter unfolds. Although this book is of course not nearly as important as the Origin or even Descent, it is essentially part of the Long Argument, and is a great way of bringing behavioural topics to the fore in any discussion of evolution. A pity it is that many modern popularizers of "evolutionary psychology" seem to have missed parts of the form and substance that Darwin expresses here.

Rating:
Summary: Darwin's faked evidence
Review: To those evolutionary behavioralists who salivate over "Emotions in Man and Animals," they'll get an even bigger charge reading it alongside "The Great Betrayal: Fraud in Science," by Horace Freeland Judson, which has a nice expose of Darwin's fraudulent photos. Behavioralists will especially love reading about the expressions induced by powerful electrical shocks to the heads of mental patients. Of course, Darwin had the electrodes painted out of the photos; but then, This is Science! Other photos are actually paintings, and most are staged, not spontaneous. "Emotions" is nonetheless a good read, as Darwin could write as well as he lied.