Nature of Man Series
 |
|
| Author | Robert Ardrey |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Berdine Ardrey (neé Grunewald) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Discipline | paleoanthropology, ethology, evolutionary biology |
| No. of books | Four |
The Nature of Man Series is a four-volume series of works in paleoanthropology by the prolific playwright, screenwriter, and science writer Robert Ardrey. The books in the series were published between 1961 and 1976.
The series majorly undermined standing assumptions in social sciences, leading to an abandonment of the "blank slate" hypothesis; incited a renaissance in the science of ethology; and led to widespread popular interest in human evolution and human origins.
The first work, African Genesis (1961), particularly helped revive interest in ethology, and was a direct precursor to the Konrad Lorenz's On Aggression (1966), Desmond Morris's The Naked Ape (1967), Lionel Tiger's Men in Groups (1969), and Tiger and Robin Fox's The Imperial Animal (1971). The director of the Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program Rick Potts, cited Ardrey's work as inspiring him to go anthropology.
The works were wildly popular and influenced the public imagination. Notably Stanley Kubrick cited them as major influences in developing his films 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange.
Robert Ardrey was a prolific playwright, screenwriter, and science writer. By the time he returned to the sciences in the 1950s, he had already had a decorated Hollywood and Broadway career, including the award of a Guggenheim Fellowship and an Academy Award nomination for best screenplay.
...
Wikipedia