Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science, and Evolution

Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science, and Evolution by Rothenberg, David. paperback edition. ISBN: 9781608193882.

"The peacocks tail," said Charles Darwin, "makes me sick." Thats because the theory of evolution as adaptation cant 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 Darwins 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.