Episode · EconTalk · 2025-03-24
Books mentioned on Bird Brains, Bird Sex, and All Kinds of Beauty (with Matt Ridley)
Bright colors, long tails, and dances of seduction: they may hurt a bird's chances of survival in the wild, but they seem to increase the chances of reproduction. Is this all part of natural selection or is sexual selection its own force in the bird world?
Matt Ridley recommended The Evolution of Beauty by Richard O. Prum, and discussed The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin and The descent of man by Charles Darwin.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Origin of Species
Charles Darwin’s foundational work on evolutionary biology, The Origin of Species, outlines the theory of evolution by natural selection and presents extensive evidence connecting biological and geological phenomena.
Discussed“Even before he wrote The Origin of Species, he was saying, "I need to understand beauty."”
Where to get it
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The descent of man
The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin is an 1871 scientific work that expands on evolutionary theory by focusing heavily on sexual selection, human ancestry, and the development of social and moral faculties.
Discussed“So, there's a wonderful quote from The Descent of Man, which was his 1871 book, where he says, "The most refined beauty may serve as a sexual charm and for no other purpose."”
Where to get it
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The Evolution of Beauty
The Evolution of Beauty by Richard O.
Recommended“And I'm sort of saying that currently, and it's not just me, but people like Richard Prum at Yale, who's written a wonderful book called The Evolution of Beauty, um are saying, "Let's have a fourth go at persuading the biological world that Darwin was right here...”
Where to get it
