#517 James Costa: Darwin, Wallace, The Origin of Species, and The Descent of Man (150th anniversary)
RECORDED ON MAY 27th 2021.
Dr. James Costa is Executive Director of the Highlands Biological Station and Professor of Evolutionary Biology at Western Carolina University, where he has taught courses in genetics, entomology, evolution, and biogeography since 1996. His many interests include insect behavior and ecology, environmental history and philosophy, conservation biology, and the history of science. His research has focused in recent years on Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, and the history of evolutionary thought. He has authored numerous research papers, reviews, magazine articles, and 7 books, including Darwin’s Backyard: How Small Experiments Led to a Big Theory (W. W. Norton, 2017) — a finalist for the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Prize — and the co-edited volume An Alfred Russel Wallace Companion (Chicago, 2019).
In this episode, we talk about Darwin, Wallace, On the Origin of Species, and The Descent of Man. We first talk about On the Origin of Species, where Darwin’s ideas came from, and in what ways they differ from Wallace’s. We then get into The Descent of Man, and go through some of the most important topics covered there, including sexual selection, our primate origins, the evolutionary origins of our mental faculties, race and sex differences, cultural evolution, and (cultural) group selection. We also talk about how Darwin was a precursor of evolutionary psychology. We discuss the eusocial insects, and if their behavior is best understood as the result of inclusive fitness/kin selection or group selection. Finally, we give a summary of some of the most important things Darwin got right and wrong.
Time Links:
Intro
On the Origin of Species
The Descent of Man
Our primate origins
The evolutionary origins of our mental faculties, and race and sex differences
Other hominin species
Cultural evolution, and group selection
The eusocial insects
What Darwin got right and wrong
Follow Dr. Costa’s work!
Follow Dr. Costa’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/3hXxyOM
Website: https://bit.ly/3wAMyGz
ResearchGate profile: https://bit.ly/3bpMXmn
Amazon page: https://amzn.to/3hUTdHB