Huxley compares humans with other primates using anatomy and the fossil evidence then available, arguing that humanity must be studied within nature rather than outside it. Later essays explain how hypotheses are built and tested from ordinary observations as well as laboratory work.
The evidence base has expanded enormously since Huxley wrote, and some language is dated. The collection remains important for the history of evolutionary debate and for its unusually direct explanations of scientific inference.
About this free edition
This catalog record links to Project Gutenberg’s public-domain edition. Historical science books are valuable primary sources, but older claims should be compared with current evidence before being treated as modern scientific guidance.
