The escape from "natural selection" through the development of humanity

 The most important point first: immediately following are the words of Alfred Russel

On the occasion of the bicentenary of Darwin's birth and of the 150 years since the publication of The Origin of Species, a multitude of books, each one with titles more mouth-watering than the other, has filled the bookshops. Numerous more or less scientific authors have suddenly discovered an attraction for Darwin. For the ‘public at large', it is thus rather difficult to find one's bearings among all these books on science. For our part, we have chosen the book by Patrick Tort, The Darwin Effect, Natural Selection and the Birth of Civilisation, which offers a very enlightening explanation of the materialist conception of morals and of civilisation in Darwin's thought. 

David Attenborough's contribution to the BBC's Darwin bi-centenary season (‘Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life', 1/2/9) was a masterly defence of the theory of evolution, delivered with Attenborough's customary ability to convey complex scientific ideas using straightforward language and copious, beautifully filmed illustrations, and with his usual infectious enthusiasm and respect for the natural world.